House overrides Reagan apartheid veto, Sept. 29, 1986
On this day in 1986, the House voted 313-83 to override President Ronald Reagan’s veto of the Comprehensive Apartheid Act, which levied economic sanctions against the Republic of South Africa. On Oct. 2, the Senate followed suit, voting 78-21 to override.
It was the first time since enactment of the War Powers Resolution in 1973 that Congress had overridden a presidential foreign policy veto.Continue Reading
The legislation reflected a compromise between two versions of the bill, respectively sponsored by Reps. Bill Gray (D-Pa.) and Ron Dellums (D-Calif.). The Congressional Black Caucus was a prime mover in this action.
A key section of the act banned all new U.S. loans and investments in South Africa. An accompanying slew of sanctions prohibited importation of a wide range of South African goods — including steel, iron, uranium, coal, textiles and farm products. It also banned the South African government from holding U.S. bank accounts and withdrew U.S. landing rights for South African Airways.
Reagan had sought to impose a set of economic restrictions under an executive order. But opponents, including 81 House Republicans, insisted it did not go far enough.
Gray, then-House Budget Committee chairman, saw the congressional action as “a moral and diplomatic wake-up call.” Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Texas) said, “This is probably the greatest victory we’ve ever experienced. The American people have spoken and will be heard around the world.”
As Leland had foreseen, many European nations and Japan soon imposed comparable sanctions. Business confidence plummeted, plunging the South African economy into a deep recession.
In 1990, the white-minority government freed Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years. It subsequently repealed the apartheid legislation, which led to Mandela’s election as the country’s first black president.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF HISTORY AND PRESERVATION, CLERK OF THE U.S. HOUSE
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