Initial introduction in 1972 Sponsored by Senator
William Roth, the CAAA was the first United States
anti-apartheid legislation. The act was initiated by Congressman
Ron Dellums in reaction to the plight of Black South Africans and demanded the end of apartheid. The legislation aimed to ban all new U.S. trade and investment in South Africa and would be a catalyst for similar sanctions in Europe and Japan. Direct air links were also banned, including
South African Airways flights to U.S. airports. The act also required various U.S. departments and agencies to suppress funds and assistance to the then pro-apartheid government.
Initial attempt at passage in 1985 Democrats in the Senate initially tried to pass the Anti-Apartheid Act in September 1985, but could not overcome a Republican
filibuster.
President Ronald Reagan viewed the act as an intrusion on his authority to conduct foreign policy (
constructive engagement) and issued his own set of sanctions, but Democrats considered them to be "watered down and ineffective."
Passage in the House and Senate in 1986 The bill was re-introduced in 1986 and brought up for a vote despite Republican efforts to block it to give Reagan's sanctions time to work. It initially passed unexpectedly in the House in June 1986 after Republicans agreed to a
voice vote in the hope that the bill would die later on in the process, thus ending any possibility of sanctions. Reagan publicly opposed the bill. In August 1986, the Senate passed a version of the Anti-Apartheid Act with weaker sanctions by a veto-proof margin of 84–14. Democratic leaders in the House agreed to accept the weaker Senate version of the bill for it to have sufficient bipartisan support to override any attempt to
veto.
Veto by President Reagan Reagan vetoed the compromised bill on September 26, calling it "economic warfare" and alleging that it would mostly hurt the impoverished black majority and lead to more civil strife. He again offered to impose sanctions via executive order, while also working with Senate Republicans on concessions to avoid them overriding his veto. Reagan's veto was attacked harshly by anti-Apartheid leaders like
Desmond Tutu who said Reagan would be "judged harshly by history". In the week leading up to the subsequent vote, President Reagan enlisted South African foreign minister
Pik Botha to call Republicans on the fence, though this was seen to backfire.
Veto override Republican Senator
Richard Lugar (R–IN), then chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, led the charge to override the veto, turning against a president that he had typically supported. Despite denunciations from his fellow Republicans, Lugar declared on the Senate floor, "We are against tyranny, and tyranny is in South Africa!" Reagan's veto was eventually
overridden by Congress (by the Senate 78 to 21, the House by 313 to 83) on October 2. In the House vote, taken on September 29, 1986, 232 Democrats and 81 Republicans voted to override the President's veto while 4 Democrats and 79 Republicans voted to sustain the President's veto. In the Senate vote, all 47 Democrats were joined by 31 Republicans to override the President's veto while 21 Republicans voted to sustain the President's veto. This override marked the first time in the twentieth century that a president had a
foreign policy veto overridden. Apartheid opponents in the United States and South Africa applauded the vote, while critics argued that it would be either ineffectual or lead to more violence. President Reagan made the following statement after the override: The override was seen as a major defeat for Reagan, coming at the hands of his fellow Republicans in Congress. It was subsequently revealed that there was significant debate within the White House between Reagan's political advisors advocating more compromise and those like
Pat Buchanan and
Donald Regan who supported Reagan's hard line against sanctions. ==Impact==