Cord Byrd: “I think my country sinks beneath the yoke, It weeps, it bleeds, And each new day, a gash is added to her wounds. I am…”

“I think my country sinks beneath the yoke, It weeps, it bleeds, And each new day, a gash is added to her wounds. I am the only remaining Member of Congress who was here in 1954 when we added the words ``under God'' to the Pledge of Allegiance. That was on June 7, 1954. One year from that day we added the words ``In God We Trust'' to the currency and coin of this country. Those words were already on some of the coins. But I shall always be proud to have voted to add those words, ``under God'' and ``In God We Trust.'' They mean much to us today as we meet here. This is my 47th year in Congress. I never dreamed that this day would ever come. And, until 6 months ago I couldn't place myself in this position. I couldn't imagine that, really, an American President was about to be impeached. A few years ago, when my youngest grandson, who now is a Ph.D. in physics, was just a little tot, he came up to my den and looked around and said, ``Papa, who made this mess?'' Now, Senators who made this mess? The mess was created at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The House of Representatives didn't make it. The U.S. Senate didn't make it. But, nevertheless, we sit here today in judgment of a President. Mr. Chief Justice, I thank you for presiding over this gathering with such grace and dignity. But the Chief Justice is not here because he wanted to be. He is not here because we asked him to come. He is here because the Constitution commanded that he be here.”