Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I know the Presiding Officer has also been a part of this rules reform effort. We very much appreciate that. It was mentioned here about Senator Byrd. I think one of the most interesting stories about Senator Byrd, I say to Senator Harkin and Senator Merkley, in 1979 when he came to the floor, he was talking about--and we have used this quote many times--the dead hand of the past, not being ruled by the dead hand of the past. What was he talking about? He was talking about the idea that one Senate could establish a set of rules and bind future Senates. He gave a passionate speech. We are in the situation that he talked about right now. He said, now we are at the beginning of Congress. This Congress is not obliged to be bound by the dead hand of the past. Take rule XXXII, which is a different numbered rule today. But, for example, the second paragraph thereof says that: The rules of this Senate shall continue from Congress to Congress until changed in accordance with these rules. That rule was written in 1959, by the 86th Congress. The 96th Congress is not bound by the dead hand of the 86th Congress. The first Senate--now he talks a little bit about history here, which is very important. The first Senate, which met in 1789, approved 19 rules by a majority vote. First Senate. Those rules have been changed from time to time, and that portion of the Senate rule XXXII I quoted was instituted in 1959.…”