Robert C. Byrd

I warn Senators-and I use that word with trepidation, because when one starts warning Senators, especially when he is in my position, he may put out his fist and draw back a stub.

The net result of the Iran-Contra affair is the presence of Soviet warships escorting Kuwaiti-chartered Soviet tankers in the gulf. That is a sign of the times. It is a sign of bad policy, of secret policy, of misplaced arrogance, and we…

If we attempt to make believe that we can have true campaign financing reform without having limitations on campaign expenditures, we will be fooling nobody.

I believe that the United States should take a leading role in negotiating a multilateral freeze and eventual reduction of chlorofluorocarbon-otherwise known as CFC-production.

Surely, we are not going to enter the 21st century without the debates in this body being covered by television and radio. It is unthinkable.

I think the institution is being undermined by the present campaign financing system; and I think this representative form of democracy is being badly undermined.

Those who oppose the language in this bill on the ABM Treaty are holding the entire national defense budget hostage-hostage to one issue of arms control.

We cannot have our cake and eat it, too. Not all of us can sit back and say we will let someone else vote to waive the Budget Act, and use that against him at election time.

The Nation's national security is important enough that we must pay for the defense we need.

The Democratic Party in this Senate has shown that it can govern, has shown it can make the difficult choices and put together a budget if we cannot get any help on the other side, and I think the vote will indicate that.

Without a sound math and science background, our children will be relegated to the economic back seat.

It is clear that the future of this country is in the hands of our children. But, it is a future filled with difficult challenges. If our children are to meet these challenges, then we must use all of the tools available to us to provide…

The issue of semiconductors is a matter of national security. If there ever were a time for this administration to stand firm and stand pat and stand like a stone wall, it is now.

Mr. President, I believe that there is not one among us who is not filled with shame and sorrow that the richest, most beautiful country in the world, the land of opportunity for generations, could experience a crisis of homelessness such…

Who is minding the intelligence store? Who is really taking care that the security of our Nation is being protected, in the nitty-gritty details worldwide that really count?

America will not move forward if we are stuck in veto gridlock every time the Congress passes a bill.

America does not need a weak President. We need a strong President and we need to cooperate with the President, and the President needs to cooperate with Congress.

Mr. President, we all want to see Soviet influence eliminated from Central America. The American people want Soviet influence eliminated from Central America. But the American people do not support this Contras program.

We need the President. With him we can do much. Without him we can do little.

The American people want us both to sit down, reason together, and work together and stop the Congress bashing, stop the partisan sniping, and stop the fingerpointing.

The President's budget would slash education by 28 percent; and eliminate vocational education. Education is the first line of defense.

The test of Mr. Gorbachev's commitment to peace, the test of his political will, a favorite phrase of his, is practical results.

Congress must underscore to the Soviets that continued human rights abuses seriously affect the atmosphere for productive negotiations on other aspects of bilateral relations between our nations, and make more difficult the reaching of…

I hope that the partisanship of an election year is behind us now. The issue of national security should never be muddied by partisan politics.

We must face the diminishing appeal of public service that I believe largely is the result of the time demands and twisting of conscience that result from what I have termed the "congressional money chase." We must face the dilemma of low…