Case–Church Amendment

{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}

{{Short description|United States Law limiting further involvement in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia}}

{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2019}}

{{Infobox U.S. legislation

| shorttitle = Case–Church Amendment

| othershorttitles = Case–Church Amendment of 1973

| longtitle = A joint resolution making continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 1974, and for other purposes.

| colloquialacronym =

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| enacted by = 93rd

| effective date = July 1, 1973

| public law url = http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-87/pdf/STATUTE-87-Pg130.pdf

| cite public law = 93-52

| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|87|130}}

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| acts repealed =

| title amended = 22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse

| sections created =

| sections amended = {{Usc-title-chap|22|32}} §§ 2151, 2751

| leghisturl = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d093:HJ00636:@@@R

| introducedin = House

| introducedbill = {{USBill|93|HJ|636}}

| introducedby = George H. Mahon (D–TX)

| introduceddate = June 25, 1973

| committees = House Appropriations, Senate Appropriations

| passedbody1 = House

| passeddate1 = June 26, 1973

| passedvote1 = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/93-1973/h201 325–86]

| passedbody2 = Senate

| passedas2 =

| passeddate2 = June 29, 1973

| passedvote2 = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/93-1973/s253 73–16]

| conferencedate = June 30, 1973

| passedbody3 = House

| passeddate3 = June 30, 1973

| passedvote3 = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/93-1973/h226 266–75]

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| passedbody4 = Senate

| passeddate4 = June 30, 1973

| passedvote4 = agreed

| signedpresident = Richard Nixon

| signeddate = July 1, 1973

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The Case–Church Amendment was proposed as an amendment to several appropriations bills funding various departments of the United States Government in 1972 and 1973. The first version actually to become law, passed by both houses of the Congress on June 29, 1973, and signed by President Richard Nixon on July 1, read: "None of the funds herein appropriated under this Act may be expended to support directly or indirectly combat activities in or over Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam and South Vietnam or off the shores of Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam and South Vietnam by United States forces, and after August 15, 1973, no other funds heretofore appropriated under any other act may be expended for such purpose."Second Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1973, PL 93-50, July 1, 1973, Sec. 307, United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 87, 1973, p. 129. This ended direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War, although the U.S. continued to provide military equipment and economic support to the governments of Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam. It is named for its principal co-sponsors, Senators Clifford P. Case (R–NJ) and Frank Church (D–ID).

The amendment was defeated 48–42 in the U.S. Senate in August 1972, but revived after the 1972 election. It was reintroduced on January 26, 1973 and approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 13.Bresler, Jon, "{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20240524074641/https://www.webcitation.org/5d5Q1ZI3L?url=http://www.bluehampshire.com/showDiary.do%3FdiaryId=469 A Precedent for Cutting Funding and Ending the War in Iraq]}}" When it became apparent that the amendment would pass, President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger,Prados, John. Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945–1975. University Press of Kansas, 2009, p. 529. lobbied frantically to have the deadline extended.Karnow, Stanley Vietnam: A History, p. 671. (1991).

However, under pressure from the extreme scrutiny of Watergate, Republicans relented on support for South Vietnam, and the amendment passed the United States Congress in June 1973 by a margin of 325–86 in the House, 73–16 in the Senate.{{cite web|title=The Vietnam War The Bitter End 1969 - 1975 (timeline)|work=The history place|url=http://historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html|accessdate=2006-09-05}}{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3891#axzz2hwvJXRwe |title=Richard Nixon: "Statement on Signing the Second Supplemental and Continuing Appropriations Bills.," July 1, 1973 |author1=Peters, Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |work=The American Presidency Project |publisher=University of California - Santa Barbara |accessdate=October 16, 2013}} Both of these margins for the amendment's passage were greater than the two-thirds majority required to override a presidential veto, and Nixon signed it on July 1, 1973.

The last U.S. forces had been withdrawn from South Vietnam in March 1973 pursuant to the Paris Peace Accords.Cosmas, Graham A. MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Withdrawal, 1968-1973. U.S. Army Center of Military History, 2007, pp. 396-400. U.S. bombing had ended on January 28 in Vietnam and in April in Laos, though bombing intensified in Cambodia. US bombing in Cambodia, the only form of US combat action that had continued in any part of Indochina after April, ended on August 15, 1973, the deadline set by the amendment.Berger, Carl, ed., The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973: An Illustrated Account. Office of Air Force History, 1984, pp. 119, 147. Airlift of munitions and food to Cambodia and South Vietnam continued until April 1975.