Cord Byrd: “the issue of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is close to the heart, dear to the heart of the senior…”

“the issue of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is close to the heart, dear to the heart of the senior Senator from Alaska. I love him. I admire his unyielding commitment to the people of his State. I honor him for that. I consider him a dear friend, a friend over a long period of time, a friend who is close to my heart. My remarks today do not reflect upon him or upon his efforts in regard to the people he represents. My concern is with the rules of the Senate. My concern is with the Senate rules in this book and how the rules are threatened--threatened--by what has been unfolding in recent days. If cloture is invoked on the conference report, Senators have discussed raising a rule XXVIII point of order--that is what we hear-- against the conference report. That point of order is expected to be sustained by the Chair. The question may then be put to the Senate to overturn the ruling of the Chair and, in effect, to negate--get this-- in effect to negate rule XXVIII in order to retain ANWR provisions in the conference report. It has been noted that if the Senate negates the rule, language included in the conference report would restore rule XXVIII by directing the Presiding Officer to apply the precedents of the Senate in effect at the beginning of the 109th Congress. It is true that noncontroversial, extraneous matter is often included in conference reports. There is no doubt about that.…”