[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1028-S1029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       SENATOR BYRD'S FINEST HOUR

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, on behalf of myself, Senator Stevens and 
Senator Dodd: George Santayana stated, ``Those who disregard the 
lessons of history are bound to repeat them.'' The United States Senate 
is too politically charged and it would be more so were it not for the 
distinguished Senator from West Virginia, Robert C. Byrd. A couple of 
weeks ago the Senate was about to go over the precipice of 
partisanship. Fortunately, we agreed to have an off-the-record session 
of all Senators. That alone would not have prevented our reckless 
course, but it did give all Senators an opportunity to hear Senator 
Byrd at his finest hour. He commenced by thanking Senator Daniel Akaka 
for leading us in prayer, harkening the time Benjamin Franklin took to 
the floor of the Continental Convention to call on divine guidance for 
cooperation and bipartisanship. Then Senator Byrd continued to calm 
partisan zeal and give us all a sense of historic perspective. We 
started talking sense instead of politics. It got us together. We could 
have gone the way of the House, but Senator Byrd is the one who put us 
on the right path. In appreciation for his leadership, we think the 
country could benefit by reading Senator Byrd's comments. I ask that 
the full text of Senator Byrd's remarks be printed in the Record.
  The remarks follow:

  Remarks of Senator Robert C. Byrd--Bipartisan Conference in the Old 
                       Senate Chamber, January 8

       My colleagues, I thank the Majority Leader and the Minority 
     Leader for bringing us together in this joint caucus. Mr. 
     Daschle asked me last evening to be prepared to speak this 
     morning following the remarks of the two leaders. I am 
     flattered and honored to do so. Having a proclivity to speak 
     at length on subjects that are close to my heart and about 
     which I feel deeply, I have taken the precaution this morning 
     to prepare some remarks in order that I might present them in 
     an organized fashion and thus avoid speaking as long as I 
     might otherwise be wont to do. I shall, however, add some 
     extemporaneous remarks as the spirit of the occasion leads 
     me.
       Before proceeding with the thoughts that I have put in 
     writing, I wish to remind ourselves that we do, indeed, have 
     not only the standing rules of the Senate, but we also have 
     the standing rules for our guidance in impeachment trials. 
     This bound copy of rules governing impeachment trials that I 
     hold in my hand was published in 1986 as a result of a 
     resolution which former Senator Robert Dole and I offered for 
     referral to the Rules Committee, at which time we called on 
     that Committee to update and provide any proposed 
     modifications or revisions to the rules that had been in 
     existence from the year 1868 when the impeachment trial of 
     President Andrew Johnson took place.
       The rules which the Senate approved in 1986 were followed 
     during the impeachment trials of the three Federal judges: 
     Claiborne, Hastings, and Walter Nixon. In listening to some 
     of the comments on television last evening, I noted that when 
     news reporters interviewed tourists, those visitors to this 
     city were under the impression that the Senate was proceeding 
     into a trial without any rules for guidance. Some of the 
     representatives of the news media were also under this 
     mistaken impression. I am concerned about the public 
     perception that we are proceeding to a trial without any 
     rules to guide us. Therefore, I trust that we will all make 
     it clear as we work with the press that the Senate, indeed, 
     has a set of standing rules to guide us in this trial.
       Before I begin my prepared remarks, I wish to thank the 
     Majority Leader and the Minority Leader for calling on 
     Senator Akaka to deliver prayer. They chose the right Senator 
     to lead us in prayer, and I thank Danny. His prayer set just 
     the right tone and the right spirit for his occasion. In the 
     midst of Danny's prayer, I recalled that day which came 
     during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, when 
     the Framers were encountering difficult problems, and their 
     spirits were at a low ebb. There was dissension and 
     divisiveness, and their hopes for success in achieving their 
     goal were fading. Things seemed to be falling apart. Their 
     dreams of fashioning a new Constitution--the Articles of 
     Confederation being our first national Constitution--appeared 
     to be growing dim. The new Ship of State which they hoped to 
     launch was floundering in troubled waters with rocks and 
     shoals upon every hand. Dark clouds of despair were closing 
     in upon them, and the Framers were brought face-to-face with 
     the stark possibility of failure.
       It was then, at that fateful moment, that the oldest man at 
     the Convention, Benjamin Franklin, stood to his feet and 
     addressed the chair in which sat General George Washington: 
     ``Sir, I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the 
     more convincing proofs I see that God still governs in the 
     affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground 
     without our Father's notice, is it probable that we can build 
     an empire without our Father's aid? We have been assured, 
     sir, in the sacred writings, that, `Except the Lord build the 
     house, they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep 
     the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.' I firmly believe 
     this; and I also believe that without our Father's aid, we 
     shall succeed in this political building no better than did 
     the builders of Babel. I, therefore, beg leave, sir, to move 
     that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven 
     and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this 
     assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and 
     that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to 
     officiate in that service.''
       Franklin's motion was seconded by Mr. Sherman.
       My colleagues, let us proceed in these deliberations this 
     morning in a spirit of prayerfulness and cooperation and 
     bipartisanship, and see if we, too, in our generation may 
     produce something worthy of being remembered.
       I speak from the viewpoint of having a long and varied 
     experience in legislative bodies. I was born during the 
     Woodrow Wilson Administration. I was sworn in as a new member 
     of the House of Representatives during the final days of the 
     Truman Administration. He is my favorite Democratic President 
     in my lifetime. I having been sworn in as a new member of 
     Congress in January 1953, I have served longer in Congress 
     than has any man or woman in either House of Congress today. 
     Dizzy Dean said that it is alright to brag if you've done it. 
     Well I have done it! No member of Congress in either House 
     today was here when I first became a member 46 years ago.
       I also try to take the long view of the history that is yet 
     before us. This country has a long history ahead of it, and 
     the things we do here, the service we perform, our words and 
     our deeds will be long remembered and long recorded.
       As we proceed to the unpleasant task that awaits us in the 
     days ahead, let us remember that this is not a trial in a 
     court of law. It is not a criminal trial. It is a political 
     trial. The Nation will be watching us, and I implore us all 
     to conduct ourselves in a way that will bring honor to this 
     body. I view the immediate future with considerable dread. 
     There is a poison in the air, and it is not the flu virus, 
     and there is no antibiotic that can be prescribed for it. 
     It is a bitter political partisanship, and if we let it 
     control us in the impeachment trial, we will find it to be 
     lethal, and we will die together.
       From time to time there occur events which rise above the 
     everyday, and sorely test the leaders of men and the 
     institutions they create.
       This is such a time. For it is not only William Jefferson 
     Clinton who is on trial. It is this August body and all of us 
     who carry the title of Senator.
       The White House has sullied itself. The House of 
     Representatives has fallen into the black pit of partisan 
     self-indulgence. The Senate is teetering on the brink of that 
     same black pit.
       Meanwhile, the American people look in vain for the order 
     and leadership promised to them by the Constitution. Of one 
     thing I am sure: the public trust in all of the institutions 
     of government has severely suffered.
       Senators, this is the headline, I had so hoped we could 
     avoid. I have in my hand this morning's Washington Times 
     bearing the headline: ``Trial Opens Amid Pomp, 
     Partisanship.'' It is the word ``partisanship'' that is 
     troubling.
       Any of you who have read your mail or the phoned-in 
     comments from your constituents knows that the anger and 
     disappointment is only growing in intensity with each day 
     that we prolong this painful ordeal.

[[Page S1029]]

       I have always believed that whatever the crisis and 
     whatever the age, the Senate would always attract and produce 
     men and women of the quality and character needed to step up 
     and calm the angry and dangerous seas which might threaten 
     the Ship of State, and dash it on the rocks and shoals.
       I still believe that. I still believe that the Senate can 
     restore some order to the anger which has overtaken this 
     country and the chaos which threatens this city. I believe in 
     all of you. I believe that all of the courage and conviction 
     needed to handle any crisis is present right in this room.
       But, at this moment, we look very bad. We appear to be 
     dithering and posturing and slowly disintegrating into the 
     political quicksand. And it is no fault of our leaders. Our 
     two leaders have done their level best to get us started 
     toward lancing this inflamed boil in an honorable and orderly 
     way. Left alone, without all of us to contend with, they 
     would have worked these arrangements out long ago.
       Of course, I am very fond and proud of my own Leader, Tom 
     Daschle. But, may I say to my Republican friends that I am 
     also very fond and proud of our Majority Leader, Mr. Lott. 
     However, I have been a Majority Leader in this body, and I 
     know too well who gets the blame when important matters 
     flounder in the Senate. It is the Majority Leader and, to a 
     lesser degree, the Minority Leader. And when that happens, 
     neither party looks good.
       I feel it to be appropriate at this point to digress from 
     my prepared statement and bring to your recollection 
     Chaucer's ``Canterbury Tales,'' and I shall refer to the 
     ``Pardoner's Tale,'' which most, if not all, of you will 
     remember having read in your school days. The setting took 
     place in Flanders, where, once, there sat drinking in a 
     tavern three young men who were given to folly. As they sat, 
     they heard a small bell clink before a corpse being carried 
     to the grave, whereupon, one of them called to his knave and 
     ordered him to go and find out the name of the corpse that 
     was passing by.
       The boy answered that he already knew, and that it was an 
     old comrade of the roisterers who had been slain while drunk 
     by an unseen thief called Death, who had slain others in 
     recent days.
       Out into the road the three young ruffians went in search 
     of this monster called death. They came upon an old man, and 
     seized him and with rough language demanded that he tell them 
     where they could find this cowardly adversary who was taking 
     the lives of their good friends in the countryside.
       The old man pointed to a great oak tree on a nearby knoll, 
     saying, ``There, under that tree, you will find Death.'' In a 
     drunken rage, the three roisterers set off in a run 'til they 
     came to the tree, and there they found a pile of gold--eight 
     basketfuls, of florins, newly minted, round coins. Forgotten 
     was the monster called Death, as they pondered their good 
     fortune, and they decided that they should remain with the 
     gold until nightfall when they would divide it among 
     themselves and take it to their homes. It would be unsafe, 
     they thought, to attempt to do so in broad daylight, as they 
     might be fallen upon by thieves who would take their treasure 
     from them.
       It was proposed that they draw straws, and the person who 
     drew the shortest cut would go into the nearby village and 
     purchase some bread and wine which they could enjoy as they 
     whiled away the daylight hours. Off towards the village the 
     young man went. When he was out of sight, the remaining two 
     decided that there was no good reason why this fortune 
     should be divided among three individuals, so one of them 
     said to the other: ``When he returns, you throw your arm 
     around him as if in jest, and I will rive him with my 
     dagger. And, with your dagger, you can do the same. Then, 
     all of this gold will be divided just between you and 
     me.''
       Meanwhile, the youngest rouge, as he made its way into the 
     town, thought what a shame it was that the gold would be 
     divided among three, when it could so easily belong only to 
     the ownership of one. Therefore, in town, the young man went 
     directly to an apothecary and asked to be sold some poison 
     for large rats and for a polecat that had been killing his 
     chickens. The apothecary quickly provided some poison, saying 
     that as much as equalled only a grain of wheat would result 
     in sudden death for the creature that drank the mixture.
       Having purchased the poison, the young villain crossed the 
     street to a winery where he purchased three bottles--two for 
     his friends, one for himself. After he left the village, he 
     sat down, opened two bottles and deposited an equal portion 
     in each, and then returned to the oak tree, where the two 
     older men did as they had planned. One threw his arm 
     playfully around the shoulders of the third, they buried 
     their daggers in him, and he fell dead on the pile of gold. 
     The other two then sat down, cut the bread and opened the 
     wine. Each took a good, deep swallow, and, suffering a most 
     excruciating pain, both fell upon the body of the third, 
     across the pile of gold. All three were dead.
       Their avarice, their greed for gain had destroyed them. 
     There is a lesson here. The strong temptation for political 
     partisanship can tear the Senate apart, and can tear the 
     Nation apart, and confront all of us with destruction.
       I ask everyone here who might be tempted, to step back from 
     the brink of political gamesmanship. I ask everyone here who 
     might harbor such feelings to abandon any thought of mean-
     spirted, destructive, vengeful, partisan warfare. It is easy 
     to get caught up in the poison of bitter, self-consuming 
     partisanship when faced with such situations as the one which 
     confronts us now.
       Witnesses are the main sticking point. I try to put myself 
     in the shoes of our GOP friends. At least 13 House members 
     are pushing you.
       They had the opportunity to call witnesses but didn't. I 
     watched all House proceedings. It seems to me that with such 
     a mass of evidence, nothing new will be added. We must avoid 
     a repetition of what the House has just gone through.
       I urge all of us to step back and think about it. What can 
     possibly be served in this unique court of impeachment by 
     having a repeat of what we have already seen?
       I implore us all to endeavor to lift our eyes to higher 
     things. We can perform some much needed healing on the body 
     politic. We can start by disdaining any more of the salacious 
     muck which has already soiled the gowns of too many. If we 
     can come together in a dignified way to orderly and 
     expeditiously dispose of this matter, then perhaps we can yet 
     salvage a bit of respect and trust from the American people 
     for all of us, for the Senate, and for their institutions of 
     government.
       There have been only 1,851 Senators from the beginning of 
     this Republic, and that includes all of us. We have a duty at 
     this critical time to rise above politics-as-usual, in which 
     we eat one another and, in so doing, eat ourselves. Let us 
     put the nation first. The American people want us to do that. 
     In the long run, that is how we will be judged, and, more 
     importantly, it is how the Senate will be judged. The 
     Constitution makes no reference to political party. The 
     constitutional provision concerning impeachment makes no 
     mention of political party. There were no political parties 
     at the time the Constitution was written.
       When this is all over and this matter is behind us--and 
     that time will surely come--then we can be politically 
     partisan if we wish, as various legislative matters come 
     before us. That is all in the natural course of things. 
     Republicans and Democrats can go at each others throats 
     politically if that is what they desire. But this is not a 
     time for political partisanship. We will be sitting in 
     judgment of a President. And we should be guided by our oath 
     that, in all things appertaining to the trial of William 
     Jefferson Clinton, we shall do impartial justice according to 
     the Constitution and the laws.
       Let us be guided by higher motives, by what is best for the 
     Republic, and by how future history will judge us. We need a 
     surer foundation than political partisanship, and that sure 
     foundation is the Constitution.
       The Senate was the preeminent spark of genius by the 
     Framers. It was here that passions would be cooled. The 
     Senate would be the stabilizing element when confronted with 
     the storms of political frenzy and the silent arts of 
     corruption.
       Let us be true to the faith of our fathers and to the 
     expectations of those who founded this Republic. The coming 
     days will test us. Let us go forward together, hoping that in 
     the end, the Senate will be perceived as having stood the 
     test. And may we--both Republicans and Democrats--when our 
     work is done, be judged by the American people and by the 
     pages of future history as having done our duty and done it 
     well. Our supreme duty is not to any particular person or 
     party, but to the people of the Nation and to the future of 
     this Republic.
       It is in this spirit that we may do well to remember the 
     words of Benjamin Hill, a great United States Senator from 
     the State of Georgia, inscribed, as they are, upon his 
     monument:

     Who saves his country
     Saves all things,
     Saves himself
         and all things saved do bless him.

     Who lets his country die
     Let's all things die,
     Dies himself ignobly,
     And all things dying curse him.

       Thank you, my friends, thank you.

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