[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23307-23311]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          WISHING SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD A HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY

  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, let me observe, if no one has, as of 
yet, it is the 85th birthday today of our colleague from West Virginia, 
Senator Byrd.
  I gave him a note a few moments ago, not only wishing him a happy 
birthday but, on this last day of this Congress, saying to him how much 
all of us appreciate the fact he has given so many years of public 
service to our country.
  I pointed out--if I might just continue for a moment--in a note to 
him that as I read the book about John Adams by David McCullough, John 
Adams seemed, as they were trying to create this country, to write to 
Abigail, plaintively asking: Where will the leadership come from? Who 
will emerge as the leaders of our great country?
  As they put this country together, of course, the leaders were there. 
John Adams said: There is only us--George Washington, Mason, Madison, 
Ben Franklin, and so on.
  For over 2 centuries, the question before this democracy has been: 
Where will the leadership come from? Where will the leadership emerge? 
This country has been enormously blessed by having leaders emerge 
throughout its history. A significant part of that history here in the 
Senate has been blessed with the leadership of one Senator Robert Byrd. 
So today, on his 85th birthday, let me join his colleagues in wishing 
him, on behalf of a

[[Page 23308]]

grateful Nation, a hearty, happy 85th birthday, and many more.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, will the Senator yield so I can join in 
those well-deserved accolades?
  Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I yield to the Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank my colleague.
  Madam President, I am very heartened by that news of the Senator's 
85th birthday. I proudly have attained 75, and I am hopeful I can 
someday stand here at 85, to not just stand but pursue my duties as a 
Senator, if that case may be, with just half the vigor and strength of 
mind as displayed by our esteemed colleague from West Virginia, for 
whom I share the greatest affection, as he well knows.
  We have adjoining States. There is a little line drawn between 
certain areas which at one time was all Virginia. Nevertheless, we have 
people so much alike in their needs. I often work with my colleague to 
meet those needs. I thank him very much for this opportunity.
  I thank my colleague and wish him well, he and his lovely wife.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I deeply thank my colleague from North 
Dakota for bringing this matter to the attention of the Senate. I thank 
my friend from Virginia for what he has just said.
  With respect to my birthday, I shall have more to say about that 
later. But let me say, at this moment, I have listened to the 
distinguished Senator from Virginia extol the virtues of Senators who 
are leaving.
  The Senator from Virginia is a gentleman. I have always felt that of 
him. Being from the State of Virginia, he certainly exemplifies that 
title: A gentleman. I have always thought that about most men from 
Virginia.
  Let me say, with reference to something that the distinguished 
Senator from Virginia said a moment ago--he spoke, I believe, about his 
daughter. He spoke glowingly about his daughter. That struck a note in 
my memory.
  It was on July 11, 1804, that a duel took place at Weehawken, NJ--a 
most fateful duel at a time in our history when many fateful duels were 
fought.
  On this occasion, Alexander Hamilton, who was only 30 years of age at 
the time of the Philadelphia Convention--the Constitutional Convention, 
in which he, Alexander Hamilton, took part--he was only 30 at that 
time. Madison was 36. Franklin was 81. Jonathan Dayton, whose relative, 
whose kinsman, sits from time to time in that chair before the Senate--
the kinsman of whom I am thinking is named Mark Dayton, a Senator from 
the State of Minnesota--that kinsman of Mark Dayton was named Jonathan 
Dayton. He was the youngest man at the Convention, 26 years of age. 
Charles Pinckney of South Carolina was 28 or 29. But Dayton was the 
youngest man at the Convention. Hamilton was 30.
  Hamilton sat at that Convention. Hamilton went on to fight this 
terrible duel, and he was mortally wounded in that duel on July 11, one 
week following July 4. In that day and time there were no anaesthetics; 
the marvels of medicine had not come along as we know them. Of course, 
Harvey, that great Englishman, had discovered the circulation of the 
blood. He had discovered how the blood circulates through the veins and 
arteries. That was his theory.
  But now back to this awful night of July 11. There with his seven 
children about his bed and his weeping wife, the little children 
weeping throughout that awful night of pain when the blood from the 
wound gathered in his stomach. There he lay. The next day, that great 
man Hamilton died, on July 12.
  The man who was the Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr, 
was the man who won that duel--Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United 
States. I have often referred to him as the great enigma, Aaron Burr.
  I remember he said when he left the Senate, when he walked out of the 
door of the Old Senate Chamber, down the hall here, for the last time, 
he said to his fellow Senators: This house is a sanctuary, a citadel of 
law, of order, and of liberty. And it is here, it is here, here if 
anywhere, in this exalted refuge will resistance be made to the storms 
of political frenzy and the silent arts of corruption. And if the 
Constitution be destined ever to be at the sacrilegious hands of the 
demagogue or the usurper, it will be witnessed on this floor--meaning 
the death of the Constitution--if it be destined ever to succumb to the 
sacrilegious hands of the demagogue or the usurper, may God avert, its 
expiring agonies will be witnessed on this floor.
  Now, why do I refer to Aaron Burr at this moment? Aaron Burr had a 
daughter. And the Virginia Senator's words about his daughter brought 
this to my mind. Aaron Burr had a daughter. Aaron Burr went on to go 
over to West Virginia to connive with an Irishman over there who lived 
in the area of Parkersburg. The Irishman's name was Blennerhassett. 
There is an island over there named Blennerhassett Island. And Aaron 
Burr talked with Blennerhassett, this wealthy Irishman, about setting 
up an empire in the Southwest.
  In any event, Aaron Burr was arrested and brought to trial. And 
Thomas Jefferson, his mortal enemy, had a great deal to do with that 
trial. But that is a bit here and a bit there.
  What I am remembering especially about Aaron Burr is he had a 
daughter. Here was this man who had killed Alexander Hamilton. He was a 
murderer. He intended to kill; no doubt in anybody's mind, he meant to 
kill Hamilton. Hamilton did not intend to shoot to kill in that duel. 
Hamilton intended, it is widely believed, to fire into the air, not to 
kill Burr. But Burr intended to kill, and Burr did kill Alexander 
Hamilton.
  We look at that dark side of Aaron Burr, this enigmatic brilliant 
man, Vice President of the United States, that dark side of this 
mysterious man. But there was a good side to this man. He fairly 
worshipped this daughter, Theodosia. And she loved her father very 
deeply. And upon this particular occasion, she left Georgia in a boat 
or a ship, and there was Aaron Burr, expecting her to arrive, looking 
forward to her arrival, loving this daughter as he did. She never 
arrived.
  The ship encountered a storm and was never heard of again. And so 
died Theodosia, the daughter of Aaron Burr. And Aaron Burr, after that 
dreadful happening, this man who had killed Alexander Hamilton, one of 
the great founders of this country, Aaron Burr for years would go down 
to the seashore and stand for hours looking out upon the sad and solemn 
sea, seemingly to be looking for that ship that never came in, the ship 
that was carrying his daughter. He stood and looked out on the sea. 
When Aaron Burr came to his last days on this Earth, he, while lying in 
his bed, positioned himself so that he could see there on the wall in 
front of him a picture of that daughter, Theodosia.
  When the streams of early sunlight first entered into his room, there 
was Theodosia in front of Aaron Burr, that loving father. When the 
shades of night had fallen and night, with her sabled robes, had closed 
the light of day for the last moment, he could see in the dim light the 
picture of that daughter, Theodosia.
  Well, that was a side of Aaron Burr that not many people know about. 
A good many years ago, I went to the Library of Congress and went to 
the rare books section and sought out this bit of material because I 
was researching the life of Aaron Burr. I had intended to put such a 
chapter into my ``History of the Senate, 1789-1989.'' I intended to put 
a chapter on Aaron Burr, the great enigma, in that book.
  There were two chapters I wrote that I never put into the book. That 
was one. The other was about two great West Virginia Senators, Senator 
John Kenna--it is a very interesting story about John Kenna and what he 
had to do with the location of the Capitol in Charleston. I will not 
tell that today. The other great Senator from West Virginia I wrote 
about was Henry Hatfield, a Republican. So I wrote about one Democrat 
and one Republican.
  In writing those chapters, I went into the rare books section of the 
Library of Congress, and among those tomes I fished out this story, and 
many more,

[[Page 23309]]

about Aaron Burr. It was there that I discovered that this man with 
such an evil, mean spirit, with the lust to kill Alexander Hamilton, 
because he hated Hamilton--he challenged this man whom he hated to a 
duel, and Hamilton, being a man of honor, charged Burr with having said 
things concerning the honor and patriotism of Burr. In those days, they 
fought duels about honor.
  How many men in this Chamber would die today for honor? Well, in 
those days they did.
  The thing I want to say again is, here was this man, this evil 
spirit. I can envision his lying awake at night thinking of how he 
would like to kill Alexander Hamilton--and he did kill him. But there 
was another side to Burr--a very tender, loving side. He loved his 
daughter Theodosia.
  So the Senator from Virginia, when he spoke of his daughter--I have 
two daughters also, but when he spoke of his daughter, it reminded me 
of Aaron Burr, that great enigma, and how he, too, had a daughter he 
loved and treasured.
  Mr. WARNER. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. BYRD. Yes.
  Mr. WARNER. I enjoyed that story. I have a great and abiding love for 
my eldest daughter. I think at that point, I depart from the background 
of Aaron Burr and his other features, but I would not suggest in any 
way that you were drawing an analogy. I found the story fascinating.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, that is a given. What the Senator talked 
about the love for his daughter, that is a given. I wasn't attempting 
to connect the Senator from Virginia with Aaron Burr in that respect. 
The Senator spoke of his daughter, and it awakened memories in my own 
mind. Burr was a great man, a brilliant man, Vice President of the 
United States. He killed one of the Founders of this Republic of ours--
not this democracy, but this Republic. And he meant to kill him. In 
those days, they fought duels to kill.
  Well, enough about dueling.
  (Mr. Barkley assumed the Chair.)
  Mr. DASCHLE. Will the Senator from West Virginia yield for a moment?
  Mr. BYRD. Yes.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I was watching the monitor in my office 
and noted that Senator Byrd was speaking. Senator Reid and I noted as 
we were watching on television that while the Senator from West 
Virginia celebrates his 85th birthday, he looks today like a man 25 
years younger than 85. He looks youthful, vibrant, and rested. We all 
remarked as to how it would be possible for him to look as good as he 
does after the weeks he has had, the hours he has spent on this floor. 
He has regaled us with yet another story and has reminded us that, 
while on birthdays it is commonplace in our country and traditional to 
give gifts to those who are celebrating, it is another reminder of what 
a gift he is to us. He is a treasure, and we love him for so many 
reasons, but we especially acknowledge that treasure on this day, given 
his physical appearance, his eloquence, and his lessons from history. I 
thank him for that.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am grateful indeed for these encomiums 
being said by my colleagues. I deeply appreciate what the distinguished 
majority leader has just said. I appreciate his friendship on this day 
and the friendship of so many of my colleagues. I shall always treasure 
the words he has spoken on this day.
  Oh, to be 70 again. The Lord has blessed me. I see his blessing in 
each of us. He has blessed me extraordinarily. Plato thanked the gods 
for his being a man. He also thanked the gods for his being a Greek. 
And he thanked the gods for having permitted him to live in the age of 
Sophocles. Well, I thank God on this day for what he has given to me. 
And I don't deserve it. I don't deserve the things God has given to me.
  But for God, but for Him and his gracious mercy, I could have been in 
a penitentiary today; I could have been dead today many times over. It 
was a mother's wish that I be given to the wonderful couple who raised 
me. That mother died on the night of Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. 
I was just a week short of being a year old.
  To go on, I thank God for a wife of more than 65 years. I am trying 
to think of a great Greek. The name starts with an A. He was a great 
orator. It was not Aristides. It was a very common name in ancient 
history, but when he in a speech could not think of the right word, he 
paused until the right word came to his mind. He paused.
  He was not like today's speakers, many of whom when they cannot think 
of a right word they say: You know, you know, you know. That is a mind 
that is not in sync with the tongue--you know, you know, you know. Not 
this man, a great--Alcibiades. No. Anyhow, I thank God for having 
spared my life on many occasions and for giving me the opportunity to 
serve in this body.
  I say to the distinguished Senator in the Chair, who has been here 
only a few days and who will be with us but a few days more, I could go 
home today, and I could write a letter to the Disbursing Office and say 
I am retiring tomorrow. I doubt that I would know the difference in my 
check that I get every month, twice a month. I doubt that I would know 
the difference between that check after I had gone home and sat down 
with my wife of 65 years, who is probably worrying, and in some manner 
of thinking that is where I ought to be, but I would get practically 
the same amount of money I would receive as a Senator. So I am not here 
today for my payroll, and I probably could earn much more money not 
being Senator or go on some board or be a lobbyist, if I ever deign to 
be one. I could probably get a lot more money. I do have grandchildren, 
and my wife and I have great-grandchildren. I probably ought to try to 
leave them as much money as I can leave them. But that has never been 
my desire. Wealth has never been a goal of mine.
  My only goal is to serve this country, and I have been here 50 years 
come this January 3. Having studied the history of the Romans, the 
Greeks, the Persians, the people of the British Isles, and our own 
colonial forebears, my roots of love and admiration and respect for 
this country's Constitution, this country's history, colonial history, 
our forebears is so deep with me. That is why I am here.
  I want to say that in the vote last evening, of which we had nine 
votes--who saw the same thing as I saw at the end--I saw on TV this 
morning that four of those nine were the oldest in seniority Members of 
the Senate: Byrd, Kennedy, Hollings, and Inouye, the four oldest and 
senior. Paul Sarbanes, our dear friend from Maryland among the nine, 
but these are the four senior Democrats, and they voted as I did.
  Do you think we collaborated about that? Does the Chair think--I am 
not asking for an answer; the Chair cannot respond--but does the Chair 
for a moment think that these nine Senators talked ahead of the vote 
and said: Will you vote this way? I am going to vote this way. I hope 
you will vote this way. How are you going to vote? Never a word. I 
never knew who those Senators were going to be and did not know who 
they were until after the vote.
  I say that to say this: I serve here because I want to serve here and 
because the people of West Virginia want me to serve. They do not all 
agree with me. I do not seek to curry favor at home or here. But I do 
what I think best, and I like that Constitution. I want to compliment, 
I want to express my deep appreciation to those other eight Senators on 
this side of the aisle, one of them an Independent, Jim Jeffords of 
Vermont. These men gave up something when they did that. They are going 
to meet that vote down the road probably one day when they run for 
reelection.
  Did it deter them? No, not for a moment. Nor did they do it because I 
asked them to do it. I would not have had the temerity to ask them to 
do it. I would have no business asking them to do that. I spoke my 
mind, they spoke theirs, and they voted their way.
  Some of the Senators came to me afterward and while the vote was 
going on and said: Senator, I have been with you down to this point, 
but I am going to vote for this bill. They were kind

[[Page 23310]]

enough--they did not have to do that. They did not have to come to me 
and tell me they were going to vote that way.
  I had them come right here to me and say: Senator, I am going to 
leave you on this one. I have been with you thus far, but looking at 
the overall picture, I am going to vote the other way.
  It was nice of them to do that. I thought it showed a tremendous 
respect for my viewpoint, and they did it on their own. They did not 
owe me anything. They did not need to tell me how they were going to 
vote. But how good of them to come to me and say: I am going to vote 
the other way.
  Does the Senator from North Dakota wish to speak again? I will be 
happy to yield. I have said about everything I want to say.
  I am going to yield the floor now, but I just want to pay homage to 
these other eight Senators. I am sure it was more difficult for any one 
of them to vote against the homeland security bill than it was for me 
because I cut this out in the beginning. I saw where it was going. I 
was determined not to be for this kind of thing because it was shifting 
power from the legislative branch to the executive branch. I am not for 
that. I was not at the beginning when I first said we ought to have a 
Department of Homeland Security.
  That was the course I took. If it meant standing alone, that was all 
right. I did not mind being the only vote against it. But I never did 
it with any thought that my speeches would change anybody's mind. That 
was not it.
  Why did I speak that way, knowing that this was almost a foregone 
conclusion? Not because I was trying to convince any of my colleagues 
or believing that my speeches would. I spoke for my grandchildren, for 
my grandchildren's grandchildren, and for future Senators who will be 
in this body. The record that was made will be a record until the crack 
of doom, be it 1,000 years, 10,000 years, or a million. If this 
Republic still exists, those words will be there. That is not my words 
so much that count, but these were words in support of the Constitution 
of the United States and of the institution of the Senate. That was my 
total feeling.
  I was well rewarded, exceedingly well rewarded, with the supporting 
votes of eight other Senators, and the supporting thoughts and words of 
Senators on this side even beyond that. So I was well paid. I pay 
homage to these Senators who stood on their feet and reached this 
conclusion themselves.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I know the able Senator from North 
Dakota has been waiting, but I want to take a moment, with his 
indulgence.
  I take this opportunity to wish the very able and distinguished 
Senator from West Virginia, and my good friend, Robert C. Byrd, a very 
happy birthday. There is no doubt that this institution is a better and 
stronger place because of not only his presence but his leadership and 
influence in helping to shape the Senate over decades. We are all 
enormously appreciative and grateful to him for that.
  He carries the Constitution in his pocket. He understands the 
constitutional structure of our Nation and the role of the Senate 
within that constitutional structure. I have always greatly admired the 
fact that he is what I would call a constitutionalist. He understands 
that we have to have strong institutions in order to make 
representative democracy work. Without those strong institutions, we 
are in great danger of losing our liberties and the balance that has 
served this Republic so well for more than two centuries. I join my 
colleagues and pay respect to him today on his birthday.
  In today's New York Times, there is a wonderful story about the 
distinguished Senator. I ask unanimous consent that the article be 
printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. SARBANES. It is headlined: ``Byrd, at 85, Fills the Forum With 
Romans and Wrath.''
  They should have gone on and added one other thing. They should have 
said ``and wisdom,'' because that is exactly what he has provided to 
all of us. We are appreciative to him for it, and we wish him a happy 
birthday, and many more.
  Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, before the distinguished Democratic whip 
speaks, I feel I must say this, and I must say it now, right at this 
point. Here is a true son of Athens. This is a true son of Sophocles, 
and Socrates and Plato and, yes, one more. I had it on my tongue just a 
moment ago. Not Alcibiades, but a man whose name I was trying to think 
of earlier. It came to me while the Senator was speaking. I am sorry 
because this really is ruined by what I wanted to say. That great Greek 
who left Athens and who went to the--what was that other part of Greece 
that had the emphasis always on----
  Mr. REID. Sparta?
  Mr. BYRD. Yes, went to Sparta. He went to Sparta. But anyhow, I just 
wanted to make reference to that and how this man who has been here--we 
have worked together so long, and now he said these things. I keep 
being bothered in what I am saying. I am trying to come up with the 
name. It will come to me.
  Mr. REID. Make one up. We would not know the difference anyway.
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. REID. I asked the Senator to yield because I wanted to, through 
the Chair, mention a word about you.
  Mr. BYRD. The name that keeps bothering me is Aristides. But this was 
Alcibiades. He was a great speaker, and when he could not think of a 
word, he paused. He just stopped. He did not say, ``you know, you 
know,'' or, ``ah, oh, ah, you know, ah, you know.'' He paused.
  I thank the distinguished Senator from Maryland very much.
  Mr. SARBANES. I thank the Senator.
  Mr. REID. Through the Chair, I wish Senator Byrd happy birthday. But 
I also want to say the Senator from Maryland, as we all know, is a 
Rhodes scholar. Being a Rhodes scholar is a tremendous distinction. 
Those of us who work with the Senator from Maryland know he deserved 
that academic opportunity, and certainly he has fulfilled anything that 
they thought could be done or should be done, and he is still doing 
such great things.
  I am not a Rhodes scholar. I am a Byrd scholar. I have been trained 
for 20 years being a Byrd scholar. I have so far to go. I do not know 
many of the Greek names. I have listened intently to the speeches given 
on this Senate floor on the fall of the Roman Empire. As my 
distinguished friend knows, a professor who has since retired taught a 
course at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas on the Byrd speeches 
dealing with the Roman Empire. I have picked up a few traits from the 
Senator from West Virginia. I have my Constitution with me every day.
  I have had a wonderful life, but this life has been made so much more 
full as a result of having become a Byrd scholar.

                               Exhibit 1

                [From the New York Times, Nov. 20, 2002]

           Byrd, at 85, Fills the Forum With Romans and Wrath

                           (By John Tierney)

       Washington, Nov. 19.--As his colleagues hurriedly tried to 
     give the president a domestic security bill, Senator Robert 
     C. Byrd took the floor this morning to tell them of a ``truly 
     great'' senator from the first century A.D. named Helvidius 
     Priscus. One day this Roman was met outside the senate by the 
     emperor Vespasian, who threatened to execute him if he spoke 
     too freely.
       ``And so both did their parts,'' Mr. Byrd said. ``Helvidius 
     Priscus spoke his mind; the emperor Vespasian killed him. In 
     this effeminate age it is instructive to read of courage. 
     There are members of the U.S. Senate and House who are 
     terrified apparently if the president of the United States 
     tells them, urges them, to vote a certain way that may be 
     against their belief.''
       Mr Byrd, of course, is not one of those timid souls, and 
     his recent speeches have been extraordinary even for the 
     maestro of senatorial rhetoric, who turns 85 on Wednesday. 
     While his colleagues have debated the fine points of the 
     domestic security bill, he has been virtually alone in asking 
     the larger question: Why is this new department suddenly so 
     necessary? What will the largest and hastiest reorganization 
     of the federal government in half a century do besides allow 
     politicians to claim instant credit for fighting terrorism?

[[Page 23311]]

       ``This mon-stros-ity,'' Mr. Byrd has been calling the bill, 
     repeatedly lifting its 484 pages above his head with 
     trembling hands and flinging them down on his desk with the 
     fury of Moses smashing the tablets. Mr. Byrd used to be known 
     less for his distaste of federal bureaucracy than for his 
     love of federal aid--he once vowed to be West Virginia's 
     ``billion-dollar industry,'' while his critics crowned him 
     the ``prince of pork.'' But now he is riffing against big 
     government.
       ``Osama bin Laden is still alive and plotting more attacks 
     while we play bureaucratic shuffle-board,'' Mr. Byrd told the 
     Senate. ``With a battle plan like the Bush administration is 
     proposing, instead of crossing the Delaware River to capture 
     the Hessian soldiers on Christmas Day, George Washington 
     would have stayed on his side of the river and built a 
     bureaucracy.'' Mr. Byrd imagined Nathan Hall declaring, ``I 
     have but one life to lose for my bureaucracy,'' and Commodore 
     Oliver Perry hoisting a flag on his ship with the rallying 
     cry, ``Don't give up the bureaucracy!''
       It would not be strictly accurate to say that Mr. Byrd's 
     speeches have fallen on deaf ears in the Senate, since the 
     chamber was mostly empty when he spoke. But thanks to C-Span, 
     his recent oratory has won this traditional Democrat new 
     allies across the political spectrum--from Barbra Streisand 
     to Phyllis Schlafly, according to the letters his office has 
     received. While liberals have hailed his opposition to the 
     president on Iraq, which generated more than 50,000 letters, 
     conservatives have joined him in warning of a threat to 
     privacy from the domestic security bill.
       As he was waiting to speak on the floor yet again this 
     afternoon, Mr. Byrd sat in his office and marveled at the 
     rush to pass the bill.
       ``That Department of Homeland Security will not add one 
     whit of security in the near future to the American people,'' 
     he said. ``In the meantime, the terrorists are going to be 
     very busy. I'm concerned that in our drive to focus on the 
     war in Iraq and the Department of Homeland Security, we're 
     going to be taking our eyes off what the terrorists may do to 
     us.''
       Mr. Byrd advocated slowly creating the department, with 
     Congress overseeing the process, and he pulled out the ever-
     present copy of the Constitution from his breast pocket to 
     make his point. ``We're being recreant in turning over to 
     this president the power shift that is included in that 
     bill,'' he said.
       One Democrat senator who voted for the domestic security 
     department said he and his colleagues were exasperated by Mr. 
     Byrd's delaying tactics on this and other measures.
       ``More and more of our members feel he's dragging it on and 
     on ad infinitum, which is not necessary,'' that senator said. 
     ``Make your point. Have a vote. And move on. He's not willing 
     to do that. He's from a different school. At some point you 
     have to say, `Enough is enough.'''
       That senator, acknowledging that Mr. Byrd is a powerful 
     colleague, declined to be named publicly, saying, ``I'll get 
     killed.''
       Mr. Byrd's long speeches have irritated some of his 
     colleagues anxious to adjourn, but he has his defenders even 
     across the aisle.
       ``I don't happen to agree with Senator Byrd's position on 
     homeland security, but he deserves to be heard,'' said 
     Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska. ``Some senators 
     think we ought to be on a bus schedule, but I don't have any 
     sympathy for people whining about being delayed. This is our 
     job. I agree with Senator Byrd that we sometimes need to 
     spend more time considering issues as important as this.''
       Mr. Byrd, who will celebrate his 50th anniversary in 
     Congress in January, said he had no illusions that his 
     oratory was going to change the outcome of the final vote. So 
     why was he on the floor day after day? What was he 
     accomplishing?
       ``To me, that question misses the point, with all due 
     respect to you for asking it,'' he said. ``To me, that matter 
     is there for a thousand years in the record. I stood for the 
     Constitution. I stood for the institution. If it isn't heard 
     today, there'll be some future member who will come through 
     and will comb these tomes.''

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