Cord Byrd

The Senator from Michigan is a man of great tenacity and perception and love for the Constitution and for him to deliver remarks on my behalf, he certainly has brightened my day. I am very grateful.

I take this occasion to congratulate the distinguished Senator from Alaska [Mr. Stevens], and the other Members of the Senate who were conferees. As I sat and listened to him as he has outlined the changes that were brought within the bill…

Over the past number of weeks, we have witnessed a great deal of saber-rattling and speculation over the question of whether Congress and the President can avoid a Government shutdown, called, metaphorically, a train wreck, on October 1…

My question was based on the statement that I understood the Senator to say earlier that her amendment was not typed up; it was just in handwriting. My question was, is she aware that an amendment does not have to be typed, that it can be…

Wait until the Senator sees the bills that are going to come to this floor if this bill dies. Wait until the Senator sees the cuts that are going to be made if this bill dies. The cuts that are going to be made in the 1996--the Senators…

Recently I received a letter from a Dr. Wayne M. Miller of Killeen, Texas. The letter was in reference to my recent eulogy for the late and beloved Senator John Cornelius Stennis. Dr. Miller wrote that he was deeply moved by the tribute…

On that point, may I say to my friend, he does not need to instruct me about going to West Virginia. When he says he is going to Oklahoma where ``real people are,'' he does not have to travel that far. West Virginia is within an hour and a…

I say to the Senator, the Congress has cut the Presidents' deficits. Since 1945, over that period of 50 years, Congress has appropriated something like $200 billion less than the accumulated budgets that have been requested by the various…

On that point, let us stay with that point. I was majority leader when the Governors and the mayors of the country came to Washington with their hats in their hands and their hands out.

On that point--Mr. President, I have the floor--on that point about the States, the States do not balance their budgets in the sense that we are talking about balancing the Federal budget. The States have operating budgets. The States have…

Oh, I like the word discipline. I like it. I like the word discipline. I have no problem with the word discipline. Let us discipline ourselves now. Let us not wait until we garble and scar the Constitution waiting on some magic discipline…

I have many reasons for opposing the constitutional amendment to balance the budget. I am not against amending the Constitution. I have voted for five amendments to the Constitution since I have been in the Senate.

The framers saw a need for amendments at some point in time, so they provided a way to do that in the Constitution itself. But I am opposed to amending the Constitution to write fiscal theory into it, fiscal policy. I am also opposed to…

May I suggest to both of my good friends, the Senator from Idaho and the Senator from Illinois, why do we not just quit talking about the balanced budget amendment and get on with balancing the budget? The President has proposed an $83…

I point out to the junior Senator from Pennsylvania, who perhaps has not read the 12th amendment lately, that that is what that amendment is all about. There is no Vice President.

The courts are going to decide that. It does not make any difference what my intent is or what the intent of the House Member was who was addressing himself to that question, or what he intent of any other Senator is. It is the court, and…

Yes. That is just the question. Why subject this country's security to the necessity of a supermajority vote when the Nation's very life is in danger, the security of the American people are in danger, the security of the troops in the…

But now we are going to be in a very different situation if this Constitution is going to be amended. And it will not be amended for just a year or so; it will be changed from now until kingdom come, unless the American people and Congress…

This Senator is saying simply that the Congress ought to continue to be involved under the present Constitution which has provided very well for congressional actions to meet all emergencies that have occurred throughout the 206-year…

Let me ask the Senator. Suppose the President needs a new tax. Suppose he needs to raise taxes to meet that serious military conflict, that serious military threat to the United States. Suppose he needs to increase taxes. Then what? Would…

For 206 years it has not been required that there be a majority of the whole number in each House to pass a resolution.

So I want to say to my friend, as Napoleon might have, he would say let us stick with the question. Let us stick with section 5. That is the question that has been raised this afternoon, in the main, on this floor. So, is the Senator…

When the Senator is around here long enough he may find himself confounded. If we get into a situation where the Nation's security is in the balance, we may all feel confounded by the necessity of acting expeditiously, because we have the…

The invasion of Haiti started. The President called it off--in midair, almost. I was not supportive of that invasion.

There was not any approval in the case of his invasion of Haiti. The invasion actually started.