[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 154 (Thursday, December 14, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11801-S11802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THANKING THE PRESIDING OFFICER

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, that completes my remarks for today. I thank 
the Chair for his patience. In this instance, I refer to ``the Chair.'' 
I thank the Chair for his patience. The present occupant is a fine 
Senator. He pays attention. He does not sit up at the desk and read 
newspapers or sign his mail.

[[Page S11802]]

  There used to be a phone at that desk. And Senators who presided 
would use that telephone. When I became majority leader, I had the 
telephone removed because I thought that a Presiding Officer should pay 
attention to what was going on on the floor.
  I always say to new Senators: Pay attention while presiding. Don't 
sign your mail while presiding. If you feel you have to sign mail in 
the chair, tell the leadership that you have business to take care of 
in your office. Let someone else preside.
  There are a few Senators who have listened to me and who carry that 
admonition with them. Pat Roberts is one such Senator. He sits up there 
and is very alert. He never signs his mail while presiding. He never 
reads a magazine or a newspaper. He is alert, and he watches the Senate 
proceedings. Why shouldn't he? This is the premier upper house in the 
world today, and it should set the example for members of the state 
legislatures. I was once a member of the West Virginia House of 
Delegates. I was once a member of the West Virginia Senate.
  I like to believe that when legislators throughout the 50 States of 
this country look at the Presiding Officer of the U.S. Senate on 
television, they see someone who is alert, someone who is paying 
attention, someone who is ready to make the ruling, someone who is 
ready to answer the parliamentary inquiry, someone who is alert to the 
need for order in the Senate Chamber and for order in the Galleries. 
They shouldn't see someone presiding who is signing mail and paying no 
attention to what is transpiring in the Chamber. That is not a very 
good example for other legislators in the country to see.
  This young Senator, Senator Fitzgerald from Illinois, who is now 
presiding, pays close attention to the floor debate.
  In some ways, it is kind of a thankless task. I have taken my share. 
Usually it is the new Members who take their turn at presiding. 
Somebody has to preside. I sat in that chair in one sitting for 22 
hours. I have had my share. For 22 hours I sat during a civil rights 
filibuster--almost all of one day and one night. Vice President Nixon 
came the next morning to preside. But I know what it is to sit in the 
chair for hours at a time.
  I compliment all those who take their turn at presiding. They can 
learn a good many things about the Senate when they preside and preside 
well.
  Presiding Officers should maintain order in the Senate. That gavel is 
not easy to break. In my time here and in all of the history of this 
institution, which goes back 212 years now, I believe, there has been 
only one gavel broken. That gavel was replaced by the country of India 
and is in use now. If I am not mistaken and if my memory serves me 
well, it is the gavel that was presented to the Senate when Richard 
Nixon was Vice President. It will not crack easily.
  I urge, for the record, the Presiding Officers to use it. Don't 
hesitate to hit the desk hard. It won't crack.
  As we come into the Chamber during rollcall votes, we see other 
Senators with whom we would like to talk a few minutes. In doing so, we 
make a lot of noise. I know the Chair is hesitant sometimes to call 
senior Members of this body to order. But the Chair should have no 
hesitation. Every Senator, no matter how senior he is, should respect 
that Chair. As a matter of fact, the more senior the Senator is, the 
more he should respect the Chair because he has been here longer.
  I say to this Chair and, through him, to all the other Senators who 
preside, stay alert, keep your eye on the Senate, and maintain order. 
And when you ask for order, get it. Don't stop until you do get it. We 
all owe that respect to the Chair.
  I thank all employees for their patience.

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