[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11470-S11472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD
Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I suspect that all Senators, when we first
come to this great institution we call the U.S. Senate, look around
this Chamber for role models and mentors to help us become effective
and productive Senators. I was privileged, after graduating law school
at Emory University 1962, to come to Washington and work for
Congressman Paul Vinson for nearly a year. I was privileged to follow
in the footsteps of Senator Richard Russell. These were certainly two
great Georgians who set an example of public service that I have sought
to emulate. I was honored to have served with many Senators I have
learned from, including Senator John Stennis and Senator Scoop Jackson,
two legendary Senators who served in the Richard Russell tradition.
I have also learned very much from a unique Senator, the Senator from
West Virginia by the name of Robert Byrd. Before I leave the Senate
which I love, I want to take a few moments to thank my colleague and my
good friend, Senator Robert Byrd, for the encouragement and assistance
he has given me during my entire career here in the Senate and for the
example he has set for all of us who served here and who have observed
his leadership and his personality.
It has been said that great men are like eagles. They do not flock
together. You find them one at a time, soaring alone, using their skill
and their strengths to reach new heights and to seek new horizons. Such
a man and such an eagle is Robert Byrd.
Twenty-four years after I first came to the Senate, Senator Byrd
continues to be a role model for me. His tremendous understanding and
deep reverence for the role of the Senate in our democracy; his total
commitment to serving the people of his beloved State of West Virginia
and the people of this country; his life-long commitment to learning;
his sense of honor and integrity; his commitment to high moral
standards; and his tremendous work ethic represent the highest ideals
of public service.
Role of the Senate
The ``Almanac of American Politics'' has what I think is a very
appropriate description of Senator Byrd. ``Robert Byrd, senior senator
from West Virginia,'' says the Almanac, ``may come closer to the kind
of senator the Founding Fathers had in mind than any other.'' Mr.
President, the ideals of the Founding Fathers and the role they
envisioned for the Senate have always shaped Senator Byrd's performance
of his duties.
Robert Byrd reveres the Senate of the United States, not just because
he serves in it, but because of his respect for its role in the history
of our Nation and the world. Over the years, Senator Byrd has devoted
an enormous amount of time and effort to the study of the Senate's role
in our history and its duties under the Constitution. His four volumes
of speeches on the history of the Senate mark Senator Byrd as the most
knowledgeable person on the history of this body to ever serve in the
Senate, and he is the leading expert on this subject in the country
today.
By the power of his intellect and the depth of his understanding of
the Senate's history and rules, Senator Byrd is not just the Senate's
institutional memory. He is also the custodian of the Senate ideals and
values that go back to the Founding Fathers and even to ancient Rome--
as he reminded us in his extraordinary series of speeches on the Senate
of the Roman Republic in 1993. I have heard Senator Byrd recall the
words of Majorianus, a Roman Senator, who said that when he was crowned
emperor in 457 A.D. that he still gloried in the name of Senator.
``That,'' Senator Byrd is fond of saying, ``is my bottom line.''
Like the authors of our Constitution, Senator Byrd views the
legislative branch as closest to the people and the primary safeguard
of their rights and liberties. In his speeches on the history of the
U.S. Senate, Senator Byrd points out that the Senate is unique not only
because its rules allow unlimited debate, and that, of course, attracts
a lot of attention from time to time. Unlike some legislative bodies in
the world, the Senate can originate legislation. In addition, Senator
Byrd reminds us:
The Senate not only has the power to legislate. It also has
the power to investigate, to approve the ratification
of treaties, to confirm nominations, and to try impeached
persons. Thus, it has judicial, legislative, executive and
investigative powers. This combination of powers makes the
Senate unique.
Senator Byrd's knowledge of the rules and procedures of the Senate
has become legendary. Senator Byrd recalled that in 1967, when he was
elected Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference, ``I began to
study the book of precedents and the book of rules, and soon came to
know something about floor work. As a result, I became proficient in
the use of the rules.'' Mr. President, saying that Robert Byrd is
proficient in the use of the rules is like saying Rembrandt knew
something about painting. I suspect there have been few Members of the
Senate in the last 200 years who approached Senator Byrd's knowledge of
the rules and precedents of the Senate.
As a result of his exhaustive study of Senate procedure, Senator Byrd
has had a major impact in shaping the rules and precedents under which
the Senate operates today. Some of these precedents bear his name. The
Byrd rule has become a household term for anyone who follows the
progress of reconciliation bills in the Congress. That rule, of course,
precludes consideration of provisions in reconciliation bills that are
not related to the deficit reduction goals of the reconciliation
process.
In his farewell address earlier this year, the majority leader,
another remarkable legislator, Senator Dole, paid an unusual tribute to
Senator Byrd when he said, ``I have learned from a lot of people in
this room. I have even gone to Senator Byrd when I was the majority
leader to ask his advice on how to defeat him on an issue. If you know
Robert Byrd as I do, he gave me the answer.'' That is high praise
indeed from a man with Senator Dole's great skills as a legislator in
this body, who was in the opposing party--actually
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going to Senator Byrd and asking him, ``What rule can I use to defeat
you on this motion?'' That is about as high a compliment as an
individual can be paid in this body.
In his devotion to the U.S. Senate, Senator Byrd has always shown a
personal concern for the people who serve in this institution--not just
Senators but all those who are part of the Senate family. Despite his
responsibilities in the Senate leadership or his duties as chairman or
ranking Democratic member on the Appropriations Committee, he has never
been too busy to ease the burdens, remember a birthday, or share in the
joys and sorrows of a colleague or staff member with a note or a bit of
poetry. I have never forgotten a dinner given in my honor by my friends
in Dublin, GA, in February 1975. Senator Byrd came to Georgia for that
dinner. He gave a speech and brought down the house when he played
``Going Up Cripple Creek'' on his fiddle, all for a junior member of
his party who had only been in the Senate for 2 years. My friends from
Georgia, needless to say, were very impressed.
Over the years I have received tremendous support from Senator Byrd
as a member and then chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Senator
Byrd has always been a strong supporter of national defense and of our
men and women in uniform. I am proud of the fact that the Armed
Services Committee has passed a Defense authorization bill every year
since I have served in the Senate. During my chairmanship, Senator
Byrd's leadership as majority leader and his parliamentary skills were
absolutely essential to completing Senate action on this national
security legislation.
I have also had the pleasure of participating in delegations to
foreign countries headed by Senator Byrd. I remember two trips in
particular. One was a trip to the People's Republic of China early in
my Senate career in 1975, back when Chairman Mao and Chou En-Lai,
President Chou En-Lai were still alive. We did not visit with them
because they were very ill, but it was a crucial time, not only in
Chinese history but in United States-Chinese relationship. The other
was a trip to the Soviet Union in 1985 to meet with Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev. Senator Byrd led the bipartisan Senate delegation on
both of these trips. He was a very effective spokesman for U.S.
interests, and he always managed to leave our foreign hosts with an
understanding of the role of the Senate in U.S. foreign policy.
Mr. President, from the day I came to the U.S. Senate in 1973,
whether the issue was foreign policy, national security policy or
Senate floor procedure, Senator Byrd has been my teacher and my
colleague; in many cases, my legislative partner. And, most of all, my
friend.
Serving the People of West Virginia
Senator Byrd's reverence for the U.S. Senate is matched only by his
commitment to serving the people he represents in West Virginia.
Senator Byrd was first elected by his fellow citizens of West
Virginia 50 years ago to represent them in the State legislature. He
has retained that trust and won every public office he has sought since
then. Few people are ever accorded the honor and responsibility of
being elected to represent their fellow citizens--a very high
compliment. Robert Byrd has sought that honor and that responsibility
13 times and 13 times he has succeeded, starting with his election to
the first of two terms in the West Virginia House, a term in the State
Senate, three terms in the House of Representatives and seven terms in
the U.S. Senate.
This makes 50 years--5 decades--of public service to the people of
West Virginia by this remarkable man.
Senator Byrd has served in the Senate longer than any of the 29 other
United States Senators who had been elected from West Virginia. Next
year, he will become the fourth longest serving Senator in the history
of our Nation. He is also only the third Senator to be elected to seven
6-year terms. Think of it, seven times he has been elected to 6-year
terms, along with Senator Carl Hayden and another remarkable Senator,
the President pro tempore, our colleague, Senator Strom Thurmond from
South Carolina. This week, Senator Byrd cast his 14,577th rollcall
vote--14,577 rollcall votes--more than any other Senator who has ever
served in this body.
In his seven elections to the U.S. Senate, Senator Byrd has won with
an average of 72 percent of the popular vote--72 percent. Twice he has
carried every single county in his State, the only person in the
history of West Virginia to do so.
For all the time he has spent in the Nation's Capital, Mr. President,
Robert Byrd has never forgotten where he came from or why the people of
West Virginia sent him here. His childhood during the Depression taught
him about the plight of people who had a hard time in life, including
the people who worked in the coal mines. His father moved the family
from town to town looking for work, but despite these constant moves,
Robert Byrd graduated first in his high school. He married his high
school sweetheart, Erma James, after he graduated from high school and
found a job--Robert Byrd, the son of a coal miner, marrying a coal
miner's daughter. At a time when America is suffering from the
breakdown of the family which causes so many more of our other
problems, the 59-year marriage of Robert Byrd and Erma James Byrd and
their dedication to their family should serve as an example to each and
every one of us, not only in this body but in America.
Senator Byrd had to save for 12 years before he could afford to
attend college, even part time, but he made great use of his time.
Working as a gas station attendant, a produce boy in a coal company
store, a shipyard welder, and meat cutter, he learned about the lives
and the hardships of ordinary people, and he learned about the hopes
and the dreams of the citizens of West Virginia.
Robert Byrd's legislative priorities have been shaped by the needs of
his State--investment in highways and other infrastructure projects to
stimulate economic development badly needed in West Virginia; adequate
and affordable health care, particularly for the coal miners of his
State; and education to improve the lives of young people, not only in
West Virginia but across the Nation.
Senator Byrd's diligence and approach to every challenge he
undertakes is summed up in the passage from Ecclesiastes he is fond of
quoting:
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
Mr. President, everything Robert Byrd does he does with all of his
might. He brings an intensity to his work that few of us could match
and none of us could sustain. Watching Robert Byrd serve as majority
leader and as leader of the Appropriations Committee, it is clear to
everyone that when the going gets tough, Robert Byrd doubles his
efforts and just works harder.
So, Mr. President, from humble beginnings, Senator Byrd has made
himself into something truly extraordinary in the history of our
Nation. He was not born with wealth or connections. He certainly wasn't
born with any power. He has made himself what he is today by working
harder and studying harder than anyone else, and in doing so, he has
become a wonderful example for the young people of this Nation of what
can be achieved through the old-fashioned values of integrity, hard
work, faith and perseverance.
Life-long Commitment to Learning
Mr. President, from the experience of his past, Senator Byrd has
become a strong proponent of investing in our future, our people and
our infrastructure in this country. Children are our most important
resource, and he knows that there is nothing more important to the
future of our children than education. But the Senator from West
Virginia is living proof that education is not just for young people
preparing for a career. He has given all of us an example that
education is a lifetime experience. Robert Byrd has never stopped
learning. He has never stopped trying to improve himself. He has never
been satisfied that he knows everything he needs to know, and he never
will be. That is the nature of this remarkable man.
Like the senior Senator from New York, Senator Moynihan, the Senator
from West Virginia is both a student and a teacher who constantly
absorbs information, he soaks it in, and who shares his knowledge and
his wisdom with his colleagues to the benefit of this entire
institution and the Congress. Senator Byrd started his Senate career as
a student, absorbing the lessons of history, its traditions and its
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rules, from men like Richard Russell and John Stennis. Over the years,
the student Robert Byrd has become the teacher Robert Byrd, but also
remains the student Robert Byrd--a remarkable combination.
He has devoted his time and energy to formal education, earning a law
degree while serving as a Member of Congress. Imagine that, all the
duties of a Congressman and also getting a law degree, the only time in
history that anyone has both begun and completed law school while
serving in the Congress.
But just as important, the Senator from West Virginia also studies
for his own enjoyment because he loves to learn, he loves to study and
he loves to go through self-improvement, and he does it every day.
Robert Byrd's devotion to learning is reflected in his work. When
Senator Byrd offers an amendment, manages a bill, or speaks on an
issue, he knows what he is talking about, and all of us recognize that
on both sides of the aisle.
As chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Byrd's advice
and counsel led to the system of discretionary spending caps we have
been using for the last 6 years. These spending caps and the reductions
in Federal discretionary spending they have enforced have made the most
significant contribution to deficit reduction of any policy we have
adopted in the last decade.
If we in the Congress took the same kind of step on entitlement
programs that we have done under Senator Byrd's leadership on
discretionary programs, the fiscal outlook for our country and the
future of our children and grandchildren would dramatically improve.
Too often today, when important matters are being considered, the
media and some politicians look to opinion polls first for guidance.
The Senator from West Virginia is not one of those individuals. The
Senator from West Virginia is much more likely to follow the advice of
Winston Churchill who said: ``Study history, study history. In history
lies all the secrets of statecraft.''
Mr. President, Senator Byrd's knowledge of history and the relevance
of history to the issues we face today--it is not just knowledge of
history, it is the parallel between what we should learn from history
and the kind of challenges we face today--and his deep appreciation of
the connection all Senators should feel to those who have gone before
us are the hallmarks of his service and, indeed, I think the unique
contribution he has made to this institution.
When Senator Byrd speaks on issues like the line-item veto, for
instance--and I agree with him that in the future the Senate will
regret turning over this power to the executive branch. It has been
done. We will see how it works, but I am one of those in the Robert
Byrd school on the line-item veto. I do not think it will be used to
bring down the deficit. I think it will be used by the President for
whatever power he would like to display on whatever his priorities are
at the moment, depending on the President.
But when he speaks on issues like the line-item veto, Robert Byrd
speaks with the knowledge born of long hours of study of the
development of constitutional Government and of separated and shared
powers in the history of England and ancient Rome as well as our own
country.
Historian Robert Byrd knows how long it took for the legislative
branch to attain the power of the purse. He knows what it means to have
the power of the purse. He knows what it means for the President to
have the power of the purse, because that has been done more frequently
in history than having the legislative body with that power. He also is
keenly aware of what it means to lose the power of the purse.
Robert Byrd understands and articulates better than any Member of
this body the crucial role that an independent legislature plays in a
democracy. You do not have a democracy without a legislative branch.
The Senator from West Virginia knows that we cannot have democracy
without an independent legislative branch.
Mr. President, I could speak about the leadership and virtues of
Robert Byrd for a long time. But let me wrap up my remarks by quoting
the senior Senator from West Virginia in his history of the Senate, a
magnificent quote in my view, summing up his view, and I hope
increasingly all of our views, of the role of this great body.
After two hundred years, [the Senate] is still the anchor
of the Republic, the morning and evening star in the American
constitutional constellation. It has had its giants and its
little men, its Websters and its Bilbos, its Calhouns and its
McCarthys. It has been the stage of high drama, of comedy and
of tragedy, and its players have been the great and the near-
great, those who think they are great, and those who will
never be great. It has weathered the storms of adversity,
withstood the barbs of cynics and the attacks of critics, and
provided stability and strength to the nation during periods
of civil strife and uncertainty, panics and depressions. In
war and peace, it has been the sure refuge and protector of
the rights of the states and of a political minority. And,
today, the Senate still stands--the great forum of
constitutional American liberty!
Mr. President, the U.S. Senate still stands as a great forum of
constitutional liberty, in large part because of the vision of our
Founding Fathers and the genius and durability of our constitutional
system of Government. The men and women who serve in the Senate have a
solemn obligation to understand this history and to protect the
combination of powers that make the Senate unique under the
Constitution.
Senator Byrd further reminds us of this solemn obligation in his
addresses on the history of Roman constitutionalism when he said:
For over two hundred years, from the beginning of the
republic to this very hour, [the American constitutional
system] has survived in unbroken continuity. We received it
from our fathers. Let us surely pass it on to our sons and
daughters
Mr. President, it is my hope and prayer that our successors will
study the words, study the life and emulate the deeds of Robert Byrd,
U.S. Senator from West Virginia, as he has studied the words and
emulated the deeds of our forefathers. If they do, the Senate of the
United States will stand as a beacon of liberty, and the lamp of
America's freedom will shine for the next 200 years. That will be the
ultimate tribute to the service in the U.S. Senate of a remarkable
individual--Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia. I thank the Chair.
Mr. FEINGOLD addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gregg). The Senator from Wisconsin.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, let me first say it is an honor to
simply have heard the tribute by the Senator from Georgia directed at
the Senator from West Virginia. It is an honor to simply serve with
these two men. I was delighted to hear the tribute. I thank the
Senator. We will all miss him very, very much in this body.
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