[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S21-S23]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATOR BYRD'S ADDRESS TO NEW SENATORS--AND RETURNING SENATORS, TOO
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, on December 3 as part of the orientation
program for new Senators, our distinguished colleague from West
Virginia, Senator Robert C. Byrd, delivered an eloquent address in this
chamber emphasizing the indispensable role of the Senate in American
democracy.
Senator Byrd is well known as a scholar and historian of the Senate.
I believe his address will be of interest and importance to all
Senators as we begin the new session, and I ask unanimous consent that
it be printed in the Record.
Remarks by U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd at the Orientation of New
Senators, December 3, 1996
Good afternoon and welcome to the United States Senate
Chamber. You are presently occupying what I consider to be
``hallowed ground.''
You will shortly join the ranks of a very select group of
individuals who have been honored with the title of United
States Senator since 1789 when the Senate first convened. The
creator willing, you will be here for at least six years.
Make no mistake about it, the office of United States
Senator is the highest political calling in the land. The
Senate can remove from office Presidents, members of the
Federal judiciary, and other Federal officials but only the
Senate itself can expel a Senator.
Let us listen for a moment to the words of James Madison on
the role of the Senate.
``These [reasons for establishing the Senate] were first to
protect the people against their rulers: secondly to protect
the people against the transient impression into which they
themselves might be led. [through their representatives in
the lower house] A people deliberating in a temperate moment,
and with the experience of other nations before them, on the
plan of government most likely to secure their happiness,
would first be aware, that those charged with the public
happiness, might betray their trust. An obvious precaution
against this danger would be to divide the trust between
different bodies of men, who might watch and check each other
. . . . It would next occur to such a people, that they
themselves were liable to temporary errors, through want of
information as to their true interest, and that men chosen
for a short term, [House members], . . . might err from the
same cause. This reflection would naturally suggest that the
Government be so constituted, as that one of its branches
might have an opportunity of acquiring a competent knowledge
of the public interests. Another reflection equally becoming
a people on such an occasion, would be that they themselves,
as well as a numerous body of Representatives, were liable to
err also, from fickleness and passion. A necessary fence
against this danger would be to select a portion of
enlightened citizens, whose limited number, and firmness
might seasonably interpose against impetuous councils, . . .
.''
Ladies and gentlemen, you are shortly to become part of
that all important, ``necessary fence,'' which is the United
States Senate. Let me give you the words of Vice President
Aaron Burr upon his departure from the Senate in 1805. ``This
house,'' said he, ``is a sanctuary; a citadel of law, of
order, and of liberty; and it is here--it is here, in this
exalted refuge; here, if anywhere, will resistance be made to
the storms of political phrensy and the silent arts of
corruption; and if the Constitution be destined ever to
perish by the sacrilegious hand of the demagogue or the
usurper, which God avert, its expiring agonies will be
witnessed on this floor.'' Gladstone referred to the Senate
as ``that remarkable body--the most remarkable of all the
inventions of modern politics.''
This is a very large class of new Senators. There are
fifteen of you. It has been sixteen years since the Senate
welcomed a larger group of new members. Since 1980, the
average size class of new members has been approximately ten.
Your backgrounds vary. Some of you may have served in the
Executive Branch. Some may have been staffers here on the
Hill. Some of you have never held federal office before. Over
half of you have had some service in the House of
Representatives.
Let us clearly understand one thing. The Constitution's
Framers never intended for the Senate to function like the
House of Representatives. That fact is immediately apparent
when one considers the length of a Senate term and the
staggered nature of Senate terms. The Senate was intended to
be a continuing body. By subjecting only one-third of the
Senate's membership to reelection every two years, the
Constitution's framers ensured that two-thirds of the
membership would always carry over from one Congress to the
next to give the Senate an enduring stability.
The Senate and, therefore, Senators were intended to take
the long view and to be able
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to resist, if need be, the passions of the often intemperate
House. Few, if any, upper chambers in the history of the
western world have possessed the Senate's absolute right to
unlimited debate and to amend or block legislation passed by
a lower House.
Looking back over a period of 208 years, it becomes obvious
that the Senate was intended to be significantly different
from the House in other ways as well. The Constitutional
Framers gave the Senate the unique executive powers of
providing advice and consent to presidential nominations and
to treaties, and the sole power to try and to remove
impeached officers of the government. In the case of
treaties, the Senate, with its longer terms, and its ability
to develop expertise through the device of being a continuing
body, has often performed invaluable service.
I have said that as long as the Senate retains the power to
amend and the power of unlimited debate, the liberties of the
people will remain secure.
The Senate was intended to be a forum for open and free
debate and for the protection of political minorities. I have
led the majority and I have led the minority, and I can tell
you that there is nothing that makes one fully appreciate the
Senate's special role as the protector of minority interests
like being in the minority. Since the Republican Party was
created in 1854, the Senate has changed hands 14 times, so
each party has had the opportunity to appreciate first-hand
the Senate's role as guardian of minority rights. But, almost
from its earliest years the Senate has insisted upon its
members' right to virtually unlimited debate.
When the Senate reluctantly adopted a cloture rule in 1917,
it made the closing of debate very difficult to achieve by
requiring a super majority and by permitting extended post-
cloture debate. This deference to minority views sharply
distinguishes the Senate from the majoritarian House of
Representatives. The Framers recognized that a minority can
be right and that a majority can be wrong. They recognized
that the Senate should be a true deliberative body--a forum
in which to slow the passions of the House, hold them up to
the light, examine them, and, thru informed debate, educate
the public. The Senate is the proverbial saucer intended to
cool the cup of coffee from the House. It is the one place in
the whole government where the minority is guaranteed a
public airing of its views. Woodrow Wilson observed that the
Senate's informing function was as important as its
legislating function, and now, with televised Senate debate,
its informing function plays an even larger and more critical
role in the life of our nation.
Many a mind has been changed by an impassioned plea from
the minority side. Important flaws in otherwise good
legislation have been detected by discerning minority members
engaged in thorough debate, and important compromise which
has worked to the great benefit of our nation has been forged
by an intransigent member determined to filibuster until his
views were accommodated or at least seriously considered.
The Senate is often soundly castigated for its
inefficiency, but in fact, it was never intended to be
efficient. Its purpose was and is to examine, consider,
protect, and to be a totally independent source of wisdom and
judgment on the actions of the lower house and on the
executive. As such, the Senate is the central pillar of our
Constitutional system. I hope that you, as new members will
study the Senate in its institutional context because that is
the best way to understand your personal role as a United
States Senator. Your responsibilities are heavy. Understand
them, live up to them, and strive to take the long view as
you exercise your duties. This will not always be easy.
The pressures on you will, at times, be enormous. You will
have to formulate policies, grapple with issues, serve the
constituents in your state, and cope with the media. A
Senator's attention today is fractured beyond belief.
Committee meetings, breaking news, fundraising, all of these
will demand your attention, not to mention personal and
family responsibilities. But, somehow, amidst all the noise
and confusion, you must find the time to reflect, to study,
to read, and, especially, to understand the absolutely
critically important institutional role of the Senate.
May I suggest that you start by carefully reading the
Constitution and the Federalist papers. In a few weeks, you
will stand on the platform behind me and take an oath to
support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic; to bear true faith
and allegiance to the same; and take this obligation freely,
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and to
well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on
which you are about to enter: So help you God.''
Note especially the first 22 words, ``I do solemnly swear
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United
States against all enemies foreign and domestic . . .''
In order to live up to that solemn oath, one must clearly
understand the deliberately established inherent tensions
between the 3 branches, commonly called the checks and
balances, and separation of powers which the framers so
carefully crafted. I carry a copy of the Constitution in my
shirt pocket. I have studied it carefully, read and reread
its articles, marveled at its genius, its beauty, its
symmetry, and its meticulous balance, and learned something
new each time that I partook of its timeless wisdom. Nothing
will help you to fully grasp the Senate's critical role in
the balance of powers like a thorough reading of the
Constitution and the Federalist papers.
Now I would like to turn for a moment to the human side of
the Senate, the relationship among Senators, and the way that
even that faced of service here is, to a degree, governed by
the constitution and the Senate's rules.
The requirement for super majority votes in approving
treaties, involving cloture, removing impeached federal
officers, and overriding vetoes, plus the need for unanimous
consent before the Senate can even proceed in many instances,
makes bipartisanship and comity necessary if members wish to
accomplish much of anything. Realize this. The campaign is
over. You are here to be a Senator. Not much happens in this
body without cooperation between the two parties.
In this now 208-year-old institution, the positions of
majority and minority leaders have existed for less than 80
years. Although the positions have evolved significantly
within the past half century, still, the only really
substantive prerogative the leaders possess is the right of
first recognition before any other member of their respective
parties who might wish to speak on the Senate Floor.
Those of you who have served in the House will now have to
forget about such things as the Committee of the Whole,
closed rules, and germaneness, except when cloture has been
invoked, and become well acquainted with the workings of
unanimous consent agreements. Those of you who took the
trouble to learn Deschler's Procedure will now need to set
that aside and turn in earnest to Riddick's Senate Procedure.
Senators can lose the Floor for transgressing the rules.
Personal attacks on other members or other blatantly
injudicious comments are unacceptable in the Senate. Again to
encourage a cooling of passions, and to promote a calm
examination of substance, Senators address each other through
the Presiding Officer and in the third person. Civility is
essential here for pragmatic reasons as well as for public
consumption. It is difficult to project the image of a
statesmanlike, intelligent, public servant, attempting to
inform the public and examine issues, if one is behaving and
speaking in a manner more appropriate to a pool room brawl
than to United States Senate debate. You will also find that
overly zealous attacks on other members or on their states
are always extremely counterproductive, and that you will
usually be repaid in kind.
Let us strive for dignity. When you rise to speak on this
Senate Floor, you will be following in the tradition of such
men as Calhoun, Clay, and Webster. You will be standing in
the place of such Senators as Edmund Ross (KS) and Peter Van
Winkle (WEST VIRGINIA), 1868, who voted against their party
to save the institution of the presidency during the Andrew
Johnson impeachment trial.
Debate on the Senate Floor demands thought, careful
preparation and some familiarity with Senate Rules if we are
to engage in thoughtful and informed debate. Additionally,
informed debate helps the American people have a better
understanding of the complicated problems which besiege them
in their own lives. Simply put, the Senate cannot inform
American citizens without extensive debate on those very
issues.
We were not elected to raise money for our own reelections.
We were not elected to see how many press releases or TV
appearances we could stack up. We were not elected to set up
staff empires by serving on every committee in sight. We need
to concentrate, focus, debate, inform, and, I hope, engage
the public, and thereby forge consensus and direction.
Once we engage each other and the public intellectually,
the tough choices will be easier.
I thank each of you for your time and attention and I
congratulate each of you on your selection to fill a seat in
this August body. Service in this body is a supreme honor. It
is also a burden and a serious responsibility. Members' lives
become open for inspection sand are used as examples for
other citizens to emulate. A Senator must really be much more
than hardworking, much more than conscientious, much more
than dutiful. A Senator must reach for noble qualities--
honor, total dedication, self-discipline, extreme
selflessness, exemplary patriotism, sober judgment, and
intellectual honesty. The Senate is more important than any
one or all of us--more important than I am; more important
than the majority and minority leaders; more important than
all 100 of us; more important than all of the 1,843 men and
women who have served in this body since 1789. Each of us has
a solemn responsibility to remember that, and to remember it
often.
Let me leave you with the words of the last paragraph of
Volume II, of The Senate: 1789-1989: ``Originally consisting
of only twenty-two members, the Senate had grown to a
membership of ninety-eight by the time I was sworn in as a
new senator in January 1959. After two hundred years, it 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
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critics, and provided stability and strength to the nation
during periods of civil strife and uncertainty, panics and
depressions. In war and in 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!''
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