Cord Byrd: “How lately have we read the Constitution? When we send a signal to the rest of the world, we should pay more attention…”

“How lately have we read the Constitution? When we send a signal to the rest of the world, we should pay more attention to the content of our message than to creating a sound bite. It seems that a new front has opened in our public relations war against terrorism, and the world wants to know what kind of action we may be contemplating to back up those words. I am reminded of the words of Gaius Sallustius Crispus. Gaius Sallustius Crispus was a Roman historian. He lived between the years 86 and 34 B.C. If one wants to read a good account of the Catilinian conspiracy, one ought to read Sallustius' account of the conspiracy of Catiline. One ought to read Sallustius' account of the Jugurthine War which occurred perhaps between the years 112 and 106 B.C. It was Sallustius Crispus who said, "It is always easy to begin a war but very difficult to stop one, since its beginning and end are not under the control of the same man." The country is behind the President's efforts thus far to trace the whereabouts and to bring to justice--to use Mr. Bush's words--Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders. But if, indeed, the President is contemplating an attack on a sovereign nation, the President should contemplate seeking a declaration of war by Congress in advance. I may very well vote for such a declaration, depending upon the circumstances at the time. I would not rule that out.”