[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 120 (Friday, September 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10254-S10255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LET'S RESPECT OUR CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the Nation is awaiting the public release of 
the Starr report. The rhetoric concerning the President's future has 
become superheated, and is nearing the point of spontaneous 
combustion--and no one has even had a chance to read, let alone reflect 
upon, all 445 pages of that report. It will be all too easy for 
individual pages and charges to be pulled out and waved around to fan 
these flames, but that does an injustice to the dignity and stature of 
this Nation. So I would like to pour a little cold water on these 
flames, and to urge everyone--all of us--to cool it.
  The world was not created in a day. And we cannot rush that clock on 
the wall, as much as some of us might like to do. The clock will take 
its time. And time will move no faster, no slower than it moved in the 
days of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
  With the receipt of this report, a very grave constitutional process 
has begun. I want to emphasize that. Let me say it again. With the 
receipt of this report, a very grave constitutional process has begun. 
And we need to respect that process and all that it may mean for the 
Nation now and into the future. I would like to outline that process, 
which is covered in its entirety in just a few brief passages of the 
Constitution. And they are to be found on page 59 of my book on the 
Senate. Of course, they can be found in the Constitution itself.

  Article I, section 2, clause 5:

       The House of Representatives . . . shall have the sole 
     Power of Impeachment.

  Article I, section 3, clause 6:

       The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all 
     Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on 
     Oath of Affirmation. When the President of the United States 
     is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person 
     shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of 
     the Members present.

  Article I, section 3, clause 7:

       Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
     than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and 
     enjoy any Office of honor, Trust, or Profit under the United 
     States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable 
     and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment, 
     according to Law.

  Article II, section 2, clause 1:

       The President shall. . .have Power to grant Reprieves and 
     Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in 
     Cases of Impeachment.

  Article II, section 4:

       The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the 
     United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment 
     for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high 
     Crimes and Misdemeanors.

  Article III, section 2, clause 3:

       The trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, 
     shall be by Jury. . . .

  Now, Mr. President, my colleagues are all well aware of the very 
difficult path we may be starting down now that the Starr report has 
been received. The House will take the first hard steps, and the Senate 
may--I say, may--have to follow. If we hope to restore the confidence 
of the Nation in their Government, and in the Congress in particular, 
Members must be allowed to carry out their task free from the kind of 
hype and speculation and inflammatory commentary that is swirling all 
around us. I say this as much to the public, perhaps even more so, and 
the media, as I do to my colleagues. Give us the time and the elbowroom 
to live up to our solemn constitutional obligation to the Nation.

  We, in the Senate, of course, do not know at this point whether there 
will be any impeachment of the President by the House of 
Representatives. That remains in the hands of the other body. That is 
not in our hands. Only if and when the House were to formulate and 
approve articles of impeachment would any articles then come to the 
Senate. The Senate would then, and only then, under the Constitution, 
be called upon to make its judgment, up or down, without amendment, on 
each article.

[[Page S10255]]

  This is a very solemn matter and this Senator will not be influenced 
by the hype. I shall do my very best if that time comes--and it may 
never come, it may never come--but if it were to, I would do my very 
best to render a fair judgment, not only to the person impeached but 
also to the Nation, to the people, always keeping in mind the solemnity 
of the occasion and the kinds of precedents and standards that we, 
ourselves, would be setting for all of the generations to come. It is 
not going to be a matter to be decided tomorrow or next week or the 
next 2 weeks or the next 3 weeks in this Chamber. The other House will 
act as it sees fit, based upon the evidence in the report. We would be 
sitting as jurors if and when articles of impeachment were ever sent to 
us by the other body.
  It is a constitutional process. Let's keep that in mind. We must be 
true to the Constitution, and true to the Nation. We must be fair, and 
we must be seen as having been fair.
  Let me, in closing, read the oath which each Senator would be 
required to take in the event--and I emphasize, in the event--that the 
Senate were ever faced with an impeachment trial. The public should 
know that this is the oath to which each Senator must subscribe.
  Here is the oath. It is on page 61 of the document titled, 
``Procedure and Guidelines for Impeachment Trials in the United States 
Senate,'' revised edition, prepared pursuant to Senate Resolution 439, 
99th Congress, 2d Session, submitted by Senator Robert C. Byrd and 
Senator Robert Dole, by Floyd M. Riddick, Parliamentarian Emeritus of 
the U.S. Senate and Robert B. Dove, Parliamentarian of the United 
States Senate, August 15, 1986.

       The form of oath administered to each Senator, as set forth 
     under Rule XXV, is as follows:
       I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that in 
     all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of 
     [blank], now pending, I will do impartial justice according 
     to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.

  How much time remains?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 39 seconds remaining.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I have some remarks concerning Grandparent's 
Day. I ask unanimous consent I may proceed for an additional 10 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BYRD. I see no other Senators seeking recognition at the moment.

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