Cord Byrd: “I do this so that we in the Senate and the President may all have a way of easily revisiting the text of that agreement…”

“I do this so that we in the Senate and the President may all have a way of easily revisiting the text of that agreement for future reference. On the heels of this agreement, I believe that we should now move forward, propelled by its positive energy, in a new direction. We should make every effort to restore reason to the politically partisan fervor that has overtaken our Senate, this city, and our country. We must stop arguing and start legislating. Divisive political agendas are not America's goals. The right course lies someplace in the middle. It is our job to work as elected representatives of a reasonable people to do what is right, regardless of threats from any of the angry groups that seem dedicated to intimidation. The skeptics, the cynics, the doubters, the Pharisees, those who are intoxicated by the juice of sour grapes did not prevail and must not prevail. The 14 Republican and Democratic Senators rose above those who do not wish to see accord but prefer discord. Chaucer's ``Canterbury Tales''--we have all read Chaucer's ``Canterbury Tales'' in high school--contains ``The Pardoner's Tale.'' The story tells about the journey by the pilgrims to Canterbury, to the shrine of Canterbury. The scene took place in Flanders, where once there sat drinking in a tavern three young men who were much given to folly. As they sat, they heard a small bell clink before a corpse that was being carried to the grave.…”