[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 46 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S3200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CORRECTION OF THE RECORD
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I believe it was on March 21 that I spoke on
this floor in reference to Senator Sam Nunn and the late Senator
Richard B. Russell and their fine work on the Armed Services Committee
of the Senate. I made a comparison in the course of those remarks of
Mr. Nunn to Marshal Michael Ney, who was one of the top officers in
Napoleon's army. I referred to Marshal Ney's having been separated from
the army of Napoleon, but having fought his way back to join the army.
He fought through thousands of cossacks and had come to the river
Dnieper, D-n-i-e-p-e-r. He had lost all of his guns, but he crossed the
river and rejoined the main forces of Napoleon's army.
I stated that Napoleon was overjoyed when he heard that Marshal Ney
had escaped and rejoined the army. And he made the comment to other
officers at that point--he said, ``I have more than 400 million francs
in the cellars,'' c-e-l- l-a-r-s, ``of the Tuileries,'' T-u-i-l-e-r-i-
e-s. ``I would gladly have given them all for the ransom of my old
companion in arms.''
Well, I suppose I was talking like I had my mouth full of turnips,
and the official reporter did not get the name of the river correctly
spelled--D-n-i-e-p-e-r--Dnieper; the reporter substituted the name of
the river Niemen, N-i-e-m-e-n. It was a river in White Russia. When I
saw that name I thought, ``My, I never heard of the name of such a
river.'' So I went to Webster's dictionary and I found there, indeed,
the name of a river called the Niemen River. So it sounded very much
like the Dnieper River.
I make these remarks today, Mr. President, just to call attention to
the error which was inadvertent on the part of the reporter and was
really my fault. I ask unanimous consent that the permanent Record be
shown to state that it was the Dnieper River, D-n-i-e-p-e-r, not the
Niemen River, to which I referred in my remarks. I yield back the
balance of my time.
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