Cord Byrd: “I am saying the Congress has not done its duty, and I am taking my responsibility along with others. We have not done…”

“I am saying the Congress has not done its duty, and I am taking my responsibility along with others. We have not done our duty. Congress has the responsibility not to follow along after the President like my little dog Billy follows after me. The Commander in Chief is just a man like I am. I respect the Presidency. I respect the President of the United States. I have never served under any President--that is the way I look at being a Senator--but he puts his britches on just like I do, one leg at a time. No more. And he is there for 4 years, unless the House impeaches him. He can't impeach us, but the House can impeach and we can convict him and take him out of that office, and we can also provide that he can never again hold an office. I am not one who bows down to the President, who bows down to any Commander in Chief. I am not one who believes we have to do what the Commander in Chief says, but I respect the Commander in Chief. I haven't cast a vote, I don't think, against our having personnel in Bosnia. I haven't done that. But I am certainly not one who says that Congress has to follow the Commander in Chief. Now, if the Commander in Chief is ever a Republican again, I daresay there won't be as many people on that side who will stand up and challenge his powers as I stand up and challenge the powers of a Democratic President. As far as I am concerned, under this Constitution there is no Democrat; there is no Republican. He is the President of the United States.”