[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7248-S7251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FOURTH OF JULY

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, on still another note, it seems like such a 
short time ago that we rang in the New Year. It is almost July, and the 
midpoint of the year has passed. How quickly we have gone from gray 
skies, lowering clouds, and seemingly incessant rain, with some snow, 
some hail, strong winds, to bright sunshine and the first fruits and 
vegetables of the season. Already the brief moment of the wild 
strawberries, those tender morsels of condensed sunshine and spring 
showers, has passed, but juicy blackberries are ripening along their 
protective bramble arches, ready for picking in time to fill a pie that 
may grace a festive Fourth of July picnic. In West Virginia, whole 
families can be spotted, buckets in hand, along the fence rows where 
brambles grow, especially those old rail fences, gathering blackberries 
for pies and jam. Of course, the younger the picker, the more 
blackberries that end up inside the picker rather than inside the 
bucket, but that is just one of the messy, finger-staining joys of 
summertime. And the fingers are stained, as are the lips and the chins 
and the drippings on the clothing.
  When I think of the Fourth of July, visions of family picnics crowned 
by the very literal fruits of that berry-picking labor are among the 
many happy thoughts that surface. Like that blackberry pie topped with 
melting vanilla ice cream, Fourth of July memories are a sweet blend of 
small town parades with volunteer firemen in brightly polished trucks 
and high school marching bands bedecked in their finest regalia; of 
local beauty queens sharing convertibles with waving mayors and 
Congressmen and Senators; and flags . . . flags everywhere, waving in 
the sweaty palms of excited youngsters and proudly flying before houses 
on

[[Page S7249]]

quiet side streets where no parade will ever pass, but where grandpa 
might sit on the porch in his World War II service cap and wave to the 
passing neighbors. That is the American scene.
  Although cheapened by holiday sales that commercialize the occasion, 
like all holidays, the Fourth of July has somehow remained triumphantly 
above it all, like the flag so gallantly flying over Fort McHenry that 
inspired Francis Scott Key to write ``The Star Spangled Banner.'' More 
families and friends gather for picnics or reunions and an evening 
spent watching fireworks than spend the day in the mall and the evening 
before the television set. Most people still know that the Fourth of 
July celebrates the declaration of our nation's independence from Great 
Britain, though other historical facts concerning our battle for 
freedom and the establishment of our government are fuzzy though these 
are facts, and out of focus but not the Fourth of July. Most people 
consider themselves patriotic, though I suspect that a substantial 
percentage could not clearly define what it means to them to be a 
patriot.
  To be a patriot is much, much more than to be a fan of, say, a 
football team. To root for one's country is part of being a patriot, 
but that support can be shallow, like the hurrah of a sports fan that 
turns all too quickly to boos--boos, b-o-o-s--when the team's record 
loses a certain winning luster. Those cheers, those hurrahs, change to 
boos, b-o-o-s. It might have been some other spelling of ``booze'' 
imbibed during the game. We will leave that for another day. To be a 
patriot is to reach into the deep current that has carried our nation 
through history, and not be distracted by the ephemeral eddies of 
scandal that ripple the surface. To be certain, a part of that 
definition is the quiet willingness to set aside one's own plans and 
don the uniform of a nation that calls for your service. But one need 
not only wear a uniform to be a patriot. Nor is it enough simply to pay 
your taxes, obey the speed limit, and memorize the pledge of 
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the 
republic--not the democracy--to the republic for which it stands, one 
nation, under God.

  I am proud of the fact that I was a member of the other body, and I'm 
the only Member of Congress who still serves in the Congress of the 
United States who was present there when the words ``under God'' were 
included in the Pledge of Allegiance on June 7, 1954.
  Interestingly, exactly 1 year from that day, on June 7, 1955, the 
House of Representatives--I was a member of the House at that time--the 
House of Representatives enacted legislation providing for these words 
``In God We Trust'' to appear on the currency and the coin of the 
United States. Those words had appeared on some of the coins previous 
to that time, but on June 7, 1955, the House enacted legislation 
providing that the currency and the coin of the United States would 
carry the words ``In God We Trust.''
  To be a patriot involves understanding, appreciating, and protecting 
that which gives our Nation its unique spot on the compass of the 
world--our Constitution. It has been much in the news the last 24 
hours. And that cannot be condensed onto a bumper sticker.

  In establishing a government that adroitly balances the minority 
against the majority, the small or less populous States against the 
larger, the executive against the legislative against the judicial, and 
that preserves individual liberty and opportunity, our Founding Fathers 
truly delivered on the promise embodied in the Fourth of July. The 
Declaration of Independence was a clarion call in the wilderness, a 
defiant shout down the echoing canyons of history, saying, ``We can do 
better.'' The Constitution gave that call that was issued in the 
Declaration of Independence substance, and the more than 200 years of 
history since that time have done little to erode the triumph of that 
achievement.
  The Constitution of the United States of America is a remarkably 
compact document. This is it--this little, tiny document. Of course, 
this particular booklet also contains the Declaration of Independence. 
But that is it. That is the Constitution of the United States. Think of 
the struggles, think of the sacrifices of men and women, think of the 
battles, think of April 19 when Captain Parker stood on the greens at 
Lexington with his men and bared their breasts to the British redcoats, 
and then at Concord, and then Bunker Hill, and King's Mountain. And 
think of the battles during the War of 1812, on the sea, on the land, 
the carnage, the blood that was shed in the Civil War by men on both 
sides, who fought for the Union and who fought against the Union. All 
of these, and more, gave their lives.
  The Constitution still lives! The men who wrote the Declaration of 
Independence--Jefferson, Franklin, Sherman, Adams, Livingston--their 
lives were at risk. Their lives were at risk. They could have been 
hanged. That was treason--treason--to write that Declaration of 
Independence! They could have been taken to England and tried and 
executed there. That was treason! Think of the sacrifices that have 
gone into the creation of that little booklet--the history, the events, 
the treasures that were at risk, the fortunes that were lost, the lives 
that were lost, the blood that was shed, the families that were 
destroyed, the properties that were confiscated--all of these and more.
  What did we get out of it? We got this--the Constitution of the 
United States! The Constitution's beginnings go back for years, for 
decades, for centuries, back a thousand years. American 
constitutionalism began at Runnymede on the banks of the Thames in June 
1215 and before. It had its roots in the English struggle when 
Englishmen shed their blood at the point of a sword in their efforts to 
wrest from tyrannical monarchs the power of the purse.
  So there it is. That little document is all we got out of it. But 
what that contains! More than the Magna Carta. That is what we will be 
celebrating on the 4th of July--that Declaration of Independence and 
that Constitution. Too soon we have forgotten, haven't we? This is a 
remarkable document. Every schoolchild ought to study it, and every 
schoolchild ought to be required to memorize it.
  The Law of the Twelve Tables, created in Rome in the year 450 B.C. A 
delegation was sent to Athens to study the laws of Solon--that 
remarkable man who is one of the seven wise men of Greece--to study the 
laws and to bring back to Rome the ideas and the provisions that could 
be put into a law, which the Plebeians would understand as well as the 
Patricians. The delegation went in 454 B.C., and they came back to Rome 
and began this work in 451 B.C. In 450, they completed the work: The 
Law of the Twelve Tables. They inscribed these laws on tables, and 
those tables were destroyed in the year 390 B.C. by Brennus and the 
Gauls. The Gauls conquered Rome and destroyed much of it and, along 
with it, destroyed the Law of the Twelve Tables.

  But so what? Cicero said that the young people had been required to 
memorize the Law of the Twelve Tables, and therefore, even though the 
Gauls destroyed the Twelve Tables, the Law of the Twelve Tables lived 
on in the memories of the schoolchildren. Hence, the Romans hadn't lost 
the Law of the Twelve Tables. The Schoolchildren had been required to 
memorize the Law of the Twelve Tables.
  Cicero also had this to say about the Constitution:

       It is necessary for a Senator to be thoroughly acquainted 
     with the Constitution, without which no Senator can possibly 
     be fit for his office.
  Those who wish to find that quotation may look in Blackstone, the 
first book of Blackstone, section 1, paragraph #10, I believe it is. 
Blackstone quotes Cicero and what Cicero said about the Constitution.
  This is it. Let us all think about that on the 4th of July. Let us 
think about those who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their 
sacred honor for that document. It is not lengthy. What does it weigh? 
Put it on the scale. Put it on the scales of time, on the scales of 
history, on the scales of liberty. Its weight cannot be measured.
  Every schoolchild ought to study this, and every adult ought to know 
so instinctively that any challenge to the balance of powers outlined 
in this document should be instantly identified and resisted. If only 
cultural antibodies could be developed that would allow the people of 
this Nation to acquire an immunity, and would allow the Members of this 
body and the other body of

[[Page S7250]]

the Congress today and forevermore to acquire an immunity, to 
constitutional cancer--it is a vaccine that I would gladly take. Then, 
perhaps, I and others like me would not have to struggle so hard to 
excise the melanomas of balanced budget amendments and line-item acts 
that periodically threaten to overturn the safeguards established by 
the Framers to ensure that the people and their elected representatives 
have recourse against an ambitious power grab by the executive, or by 
any political party.
  Like the wild strawberries and blackberries that sweeten a country 
stroll on a Sunday afternoon, our republican form of government is a 
natural treasure of a generous and bountiful land. But, like the 
delicate wild beauties of vine and bramble which are too easily 
overlooked amid the garish profusion of plenty that surrounds us, so 
must we be alert to often subtle presence of Constitutional safeguards 
embodied in our complex profusion of laws and governmental structures. 
We must guard against a complacency that would trample them under foot 
or mow them down in a fervor of thoughtless modernization for the sake 
of change or in the name of some soul-less efficiency.
  This Fourth of July--this Fourth of July--let us put aside for a 
moment the bright display of fireworks, the inspiring ring of martial 
music, and listen for the timeless song of our past. Listen for the 
courage and determination in the solemn opening paragraphs of the 
Declaration of Independence where it is said:
  ``When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one 
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and 
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle 
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they 
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
  ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of 
Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted 
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
governed,--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of 
these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and 
to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles 
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.''
  Mr. President, on July 4, 1776, the thirteen united states of America 
committed themselves to a bold new course, at great risk. It is no 
small thing to break away from centuries of tradition, in the face of 
overwhelming military might, and the opening paragraphs of the 
Declaration of Independence make it clear that our Founding Fathers 
knew full well the seriousness and the risks of the course they had 
embarked upon. They recognized the challenge laid out for them in 
establishing a new and better form of government.
  This Fourth of July, I will happily watch the parades and the 
fireworks and, with luck, perhaps enjoy with my wife of 61 years and my 
daughters of many years and my grandchildren of several years a piece 
of blackberry pie with ice cream.
  But I will also take the time to pull out my little copy of the 
Constitution that I carry with me, near to my heart. I will take a few 
minutes to marvel again at the skill and economy with which the Framers 
outlined a government that has so well provided for our nation through 
the centuries. We who enjoy the freedom, the independence, the 
security, and the prosperity of 1998, owe a great debt of gratitude for 
the courage and the commitment of those patriots of 1776, and an equal 
debt to the men, some of them the same individuals, who followed 
through on that promise in the Constitutional Convention of 1789. We 
honor them best, I think, by preserving their legacy for the patriots 
of the 21st Century, our children and grandchildren.
  The legacy bequeathed to us in trust to our children and 
grandchildren is, Mr. President--I say to the very distinguished 
patriotic Senator, who is from Wyoming, and who graces the Presiding 
Officer's chair in the Chamber today--simply the most richly endowed 
nation on the face of the Earth--rich in land, in opportunity, in 
liberty.
  We are the inheritors of plenty, thank God, merciful Providence. I 
have had the great fortune to travel widely during my life. I have 
visited with kings, queens, shahs, prime ministers, presidents, and 
premiers of many lands. I have seen the beauties of Europe, the 
mysteries of the Orient, the crumbling ruins of once-mighty empires in 
the Middle East. They have all left me with wonderful memories and 
great stories. But when I travel, I pine for home.
  I took a trip around the world along with six colleagues in the House 
of Representatives in 1955. That was 43 years ago. We traveled around 
the world in an old Constellation. We traveled for 68 days. That would 
have been called a junket today. We were a subcommittee of the House 
Committee on Foreign Affairs. And so I traveled in many wonderful 
lands, but the most beautiful sight that I saw in that entire 68 days, 
having seen the Taj Mahal, having seen Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan, having 
seen the other wonders and beauties of the world and of nature, the 
most inspiring and gratifying thing that I saw were the two little 
bright red lights flashing at the top of the Washington Monument when 
we returned to the good old United States of America. We had been in 
lands where there was no fresh, clean water to be drawn from the 
faucets. We so much take America for granted today, but what a 
wonderful experience it was anew to be able upon our return to go back 
to a faucet and see come from that faucet water--clear, pure, good 
water--that we could drink without fear of becoming ill. So I have been 
left with many wonderful memories, but never shall I forget those two 
red lights at the top of the monument to the greatest President of the 
greatest country in the world, the Washington Monument.
  I miss when I travel the comforting presence of friendly West 
Virginia faces, the soft breeze that carries their cheerful hellos, the 
warm smiles that brighten the day and lift my heart. I think that I 
never appreciate home so much as when I am away from it. I suspect that 
you, Mr. President, and most Americans feel that way, too. That great 
poet Henry Van Dyke certainly did, and he used his facility with words 
to capture the feeling in his poem, ``America For Me.''

     `Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
     Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
     To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,--
     But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

     So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
     My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
     In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
     Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of 
           stars.

     Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;
     And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
     And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study in 
           Rome
     But when it comes to living there is just no place like home.

     I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;
     I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains 
           filled;
     But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
     In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

     I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:
     The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
     But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,--
     We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

     Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!
     I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling 
           sea,
     To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
     Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of 
           stars!
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll to ascertain the 
absence or presence of a quorum.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

[[Page S7251]]

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I want to express my appreciation to the 
fine men and women of the United States Air Force, who honored my great 
state and her great people by naming the 19th operational B-2 Stealth 
Bomber, The Spirit of Mississippi. I saw the B-2 fly--and it filled me, 
and all those who participated in the naming ceremony, with enormous 
pride.
  The dedication of this magnificent aircraft took place in a moving 
ceremony on Saturday, May 23rd, in Jackson, Mississippi. The ceremony 
took on additional meaning for all those who joined me since it came at 
the start of the Memorial Day weekend, when we honor those who 
sacrificed so much for the defense of our great nation.
  The ceremony included a number of great Americans. General Richard 
Hawley, the Commander of the Air Force's Air Combat Command, chose 
Mississippi as the name to grace this aircraft as she serves to deter 
our enemies for decades to come. Also participating in the ceremony was 
Mr. Kent Kresa, the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of 
Northrop Grumman, the company that built this technological wonder with 
the help of the skilled people and companies of Mississippi.
  I was pleased to be joined by a number of senior political leaders 
from Mississippi: My esteemed colleague, Senator Thad Cochran, Governor 
Kirk Fordice, and Congressman Roger Wicker of the 1st District.
  Major General James H. Garner, the Adjutant General of the 
Mississippi National Guard, and Colonel Robert Barron, the Commander of 
the 172nd Airlift Wing at Jackson, served as our hosts for these 
ceremonies.
  When you stand up close to a B-2, and have the opportunity to see a 
B-2 fly, you realize just how magnificent this aircraft truly is--and 
the magnitude of the technological accomplishments that it represents. 
Just to put this in perspective, the B-2 aircraft has a wingspan about 
\2/3\ the length of a football field and, so they tell me, the radar 
signature of an insect. With refueling, it can fly anywhere on the 
planet to deliver 16 one-ton precision-guided bombs--even in bad 
weather. The B-2 offers a revolutionary combination of stealth, range, 
payload, and precision. It could only have been built here in America--
and, I say with pride, only with the help of my fellow Mississippians.
  Fielding this revolutionary aircraft took courage and dedication on 
the part of key leaders in the Senate, the House of Representatives, 
and four separate Administrations. To get where we are today, from 
concept to a squadron of B-2s ready to fly and fight, took almost two 
decades of effort. Standing here now, we can better appreciate their 
vision. And we need to remember the time it took to develop the B-2 as 
we look to the future of America's long-range bomber force.
  We in Congress believe that long-range air power will be even more 
important in the future than it has been in the past. The reasons are 
straightforward. Our forces based overseas are shrinking in size--and 
that trend is likely to continue. Potential adversaries are arming 
themselves with fast-moving conventional forces and weapons of mass 
destruction. Long range air power gives the President the ability to 
respond to aggression immediately and decisively--and that's what helps 
provide deterrence.
  We in Congress, however, have had growing concerns about the future 
of the bomber force. Accordingly, we mandated last year that a 
distinguished and independent panel of experts--the Long Range Air 
Power Panel--examine current plans for the bomber force and recommend 
actions to the President and the Congress. That panel has completed its 
review and I'd like to briefly share some of its important 
recommendations regarding the B-2 and the future of America's long-
range bomber force.
  The Panel stated up front that, and I quote: ``long-range air power 
is an increasingly important element of U.S. military capability.'' 
Over the near term, to make sure that the bomber force can meet the 
increasing demand for long-range air power, the Panel recommended that 
we need to invest in and upgrade the current force. In the case of the 
B-2, for example, the Panel stated that we should work on in increasing 
the B-2's sortie rate using a combined program that improves stealth 
maintenance and performance. This will take some additional funding 
beyond what we provided in the 1998 budget, but keep in mind that 
doubling the B-2's sortie rate would in effect double the combat power 
of the force. That's a bargain.
  The Panel also made an important recommendation regarding the long-
term future of the bomber force. As I noted before, it took almost 20 
years to field the B-2. In less than twenty years from now, the Panel 
stated that we should be fielding a next generation bomber--and to do 
so, we need to get started now to develop a plan to replace the 
existing force over time. I don't know what the next generation bomber 
will look like. Maybe it will be an upgraded B-2 or something 
completely different. But I do know that given the strategic importance 
of long-range air power, we need to get started. I look forward to 
seeing the Pentagon's recommendations next year about this important 
issue.
  The enhancements suggested for the B-2 are in line with the 
requirements identified by my fellow participant in the Spirit of 
Mississippi naming ceremony, General Hawley. As we complete work on 
this year's defense budget, we should follow the example offered by a 
brilliant former leader from Mississippi--the late Senator John 
Stennis--who along with other leaders in this chamber had the vision to 
start building the B-2. His vision is now a reality that will fly for 
many decades into the future. In following Senator Stennis' guidance, 
we need to support the continued enhancement of the revolutionary B-2 
stealth bomber. And we need to encourage the Air Force to provide us 
with a comprehensive plan for developing a next-generation bomber to 
sustain the long-range air power force over the long-term. John Stennis 
would be very proud of our actions--and our long-term vision.

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