Frank Lautenberg: “I salute my colleague and friend, the Senator from West Virginia. Senator Byrd is someone I greatly respect and admire.…”

“I salute my colleague and friend, the Senator from West Virginia. Senator Byrd is someone I greatly respect and admire. I have now been here a long time, even though, according to the rules, I am a freshman or just above a freshman, maybe a sophomore--I don't think so--but whenever Senator Robert C. Byrd speaks, it is always worth listening. And I find more often than not it is very much worth following the idea that the Senator from West Virginia puts forward. So I am pleased to support the Byrd amendment on propaganda. It is an issue that has disturbed me over time and something I have worked on. The Byrd amendment is an important step toward preventing the Government from delivering messages that are, if I can call them, kind of incognito. They are hidden from identifying as to what they really are. It is a step toward accomplishing a goal that is not clearly defined as being presented as a neutral observer. So we want to stop the spread of covert Government propaganda. By the way, I want it to be understood that this is not brand new. This is not something that has only happened since this administration took over; it happened in years past. I was asked the question at a hearing this morning: Well, then why didn't we talk about it in years past? Because there has been a proliferation of these things. As a consequence, I think for all parties but particularly for the American people, it is a good idea to use this opportunity to clear up the situation.…”