ExecutiveOrdersEO
DetDeterminationClinton · D

Presidential Determination

Vietnamese Cooperation in Accounting for United States Prisoners of War and Missing in Action (POW/MIA)

President Clinton determined that Vietnam was fully cooperating in good faith with U.S. efforts to account for POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War, as required by a congressional appropriations condition. However, he simultaneously asserted that this statutory condition was unconstitutional while providing the determination as a matter of comity.

Federal Register Open PDF 65 FR 10669

Impact dates

  1. Federal Register filing completed

Key directives

  • Secretary of State to report determination to appropriate congressional committees
  • Secretary of State to publish determination in the Federal Register

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Determination takes effect as signed
  • Secretary of State directed to report to Congress and publish in Federal Register

Near term (90d)

  • Federal Register publication completed (filed 2-25-00)

Long term

  • Continued U.S.-Vietnam cooperation on POW/MIA accounting
  • Potential precedent for executive branch resistance to congressional conditions on appropriations

Risks & tensions

  • Constitutional tension: President asserts section 610 is unconstitutional while complying anyway, creating precedent for 'comity'-based accommodation
  • Separation of powers friction over congressional conditions on foreign policy appropriations
  • Vague statutory standard ('fully cooperating in good faith') gives executive broad interpretive discretion
Presidential Determination: Vietnamese Cooperation in Accounting for United States Prisoners of War and Missing in Action (POW/MIA) · Executive Orders