Cord Byrd: “Hold on a minute. Madam President, there has to be a little levity. Even the wisest will stop for a moment to smile…”

“Hold on a minute. Madam President, there has to be a little levity. Even the wisest will stop for a moment to smile, laugh a little, be a little jovial. But this is a tremendous victory; as a member of the committee on which this great man serves, I am proud to serve on that committee. On another subject which has been injected here, no Senator should have to stand in a party caucus and defend this Constitution. No Senator should have to stand in a party caucus and refer to this document. This is a time when we must return to the language and the spirit of this Constitution. All too often I hear the leaders of this Nation in both parties refer to this document or that document or what this person said or that person said, but very seldom do I hear on the television talk shows on Sundays and other days of the week, seldom, relatively speaking, do I hear them base their position on the Constitution of the United States. As I have witnessed the tides that ebb and flow on the world stage over these 50 years, all the more have I come to believe that the Constitution is the principal mast to which we should rope ourselves in order to put wax in our ears to the siren calls that will lead us astray from what the Constitution says. The Constitution very clearly says in a nonambiguous sentence, the Congress shall have power to declare war. I am very pained to see a Congress, most of the leaders of which say we should pass this resolution, meaning S.J. Res. 46.”