Cooper-Church Amendment to the Rescue!

The Vietnam War was a very controversial and difficult time in American history for all Americans. This proved to be true to me after perusing through several letters from that era of many civilians that felt it was such an impactful event they felt the need to write letters to their congressman Harold T. “Bizz” Johnson asking him to please end it and return all the troops home. The opposition to the war seemed to be at its highest during the 1970s, which was the year most of the letters I reviewed were from. The letters came from a big variety of people ranging from students, parents, business owners, teachers, and even veterans. There was a persistent theme within these letters, a huge population of people mentioned they were in favor of the passing of the Cooper-Church Amendment. It would presumably help aid in the ending of the war and bring back the peoples’ beloved troops by limiting US involvement in Southeast Asia and creating new regulations as to how the President handled our troops during times of war.

While exploring various letters from that era I came across a certain letter from a man, a father of three, named R James Rasmussen who wrote very passionately about his feelings about the war in Southeast Asia. I found it very intriguing because the points that he made in his letter seemed to have more truth and facts to them than most of the other letters I read because of the statement Mr. Rasmussen made saying he was “active in local political groups in support of our representative form of government. That’s the way I’ve felt for the past 37 years. I am no longer so sure of that position.” This was a very powerful statement as it shows that he has long been a supporter of the way the government was run and was very well educated as to how the government was functioning at that time but due to the results of the war his mindset changed! I would imagine it would take something really powerful and controversial to change the mind of somebody who had supported the government for over 30 years; in this case it was the Vietnam war. Mr. Rasmussen’s point of view against the war become even more valid as he reveals later in his letter that he feared for his sons’ lives saying “I am interested in saving the real limbs and bodies of my children not their symbolic faces.” Again this is very powerful as he is showing his fatherly side and concern for the well being of his children. He knows about the thousands that were drafted and the thousands that were killed and he does not want the same fate for his children. You can see in the picture of the letter here that while reading it you can sense his anger and disappointment while he writes, he even underlines some of his most important points to make sure the reader understands his message. To end his letter he finishes with one simple statement; “I support the Cooper-Church Amendment.” This letter truly depicted the overall feelings and emotions people underwent during that era.

There came a light of hope for Americans when two Senators by the names of John Sherman Cooper and Frank Church created the Cooper-Church Amendment as an attachment to the Foreign Military Sales Act of 1971. In a nutshell this amendment created “limitations on the United States involvement in Cambodia… to avoid the involvement of the United States in Cambodia after July 1, 1970, and to expedite the withdrawal of American forces” (Limited US Involvement in the Indochina War). It limited things such as the deployment of troops, aerial combat, and most importantly the return of troops from Cambodia which is what the people really wanted in an attempt to end this, as some called it, “pointless” war. This amendment was debated for months and was finally approved by the Senate in a vote of 58 to 37 in favor of it. However, it was denied later by the House of Representatives in an opposing vote of 237 to 153. The main problem with this amendment was that the Nixon Administration argued that it basically “denied the constitutional power of the President” (Cooper Church Amendment). “The President, calling the Senate-passed amendment not “particularly precise” (Averill) would go on to say that this amendment was far from perfect and would veto the entire bill unless certain provisions were made to maintain his Constitutional power as Commander in Chief so that he has the power to protect the soldiers but also be able to send them when he feels it is necessary to defend our country or aid other countries. Thankfully it didn’t stop there. Several adjustments later and after more debating a new revised version was able to pass both houses of Congress in December of 1970 and came into action as of January 5, 1971. It became more acceptable when a section was added to the end stating:

“Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to impugn the constitutional power of the President as Commander in Chief including the exercise of that constitutional power which may be necessary to protect the lives of United States armed forces whenever deployed.” (Cooper Church Amendment)

An article in the Los Angeles Times by Joseph Alsop states “[the amendment’s] passage, by a narrow majority, was fulsomely saluted as a decisive triumph.” By then of course many US forces had been officially withdrawn from Cambodia and many people were at ease now that the soldiers were being protected more even though the war did not officially end until 1975.

Works Cited

Alsop, Joseph. “Cooper-Church Measure Dies in House-Senate Committee.” Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File): 1. Oct 02 1970. ProQuest. Web. 14 Sep. 2015 .

Averill, John H. “Nixon Assails Senate Over Cambodia Curb.” Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File): 16. Jul 02 1970. ProQuest. Web. 14 Sep. 2015 .

Cooper Church Amendment,  01 June 1970, Folder 14, Box 49, Douglas Pike Collection: Unit 03 – Legal and Legislative, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University. 13 Sep. 2015.

Limiting US Involvement In The Indochina War,  27 January 1975, Folder 12, Box 51, Douglas Pike Collection: Unit 03 – Legal and Legislative, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University. 14 Sep. 2015.

Rasmussen, R James. Letter to Congressman Harold T. Johnson. 21 May 1970. Broome Library Harold T. Johnson Collection. Camarillo, CA. 15 Sept. 2015. TS.