Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Virginia, Mr. Robb.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Illinois, Mr. Durbin.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Louisiana.

Mr. BYRD. Senator Dorgan has 15 minutes for himself outside this.

Mr. BYRD. Senator Conrad, 5 minutes; Senator Landrieu, 5 minutes; Senator Harkin, 8 minutes; Senator Graham, 7\1/2\ minutes; Senator Dodd, 5 minutes; Senator Durbin, 5 minutes; Senator Wellstone, 5 minutes; Senator Boxer, 5 minutes.

Mr. BYRD. All right.

Mr. BYRD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Reserving the right to object, I will not object. I don't want to force my will upon the Senate, but I want the record to show that I support this amendment.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, may we have order.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, would the Senator yield briefly that I might compliment him?

Mr. BYRD. Would he mind if I asked to be a cosponsor of this resolution?

Mr. BYRD. Because Senator Moynihan is truly a man of eloquence and wit and vision and grace. We are going to miss him. He has been a powerful influence in this Senate. He has served in the executive branch, served with brilliance and with honor. And, like Christopher Wren--``if you would see his monument, look about you''--Senator Moynihan leaves many monuments. Perhaps the greatest monument of all is that mark he has left upon the hearts of his colleagues who will miss him and his powerful influence, his wisdom, his vision, when he has left this Senate. I congratulate the Senator on offering this resolution. I will be very grateful if he will allow me to be a cosponsor. It is one of the least things I can do to honor my colleague, one whom I love, one whom I revere, one whom I respect, and one who has shown himself to be a leader in this Senate. I thank the Senator.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Because Senator Moynihan is truly a man of eloquence and wit and vision and grace. We are going to miss him. He has been a powerful influence in this Senate. He has served in the executive branch, served with brilliance and with honor. And, like Christopher Wren--``if you would see his monument, look about you''--Senator Moynihan leaves many monuments. Perhaps the greatest monument of all is that mark he has left upon the hearts of his colleagues who will miss him and his powerful influence, his wisdom, his vision, when he has left this Senate. I congratulate the Senator on offering this resolution. I will be very grateful if he will allow me to be a cosponsor. It is one of the least things I can do to honor my colleague, one whom I love, one whom I revere, one whom I respect, and one who has shown himself to be a leader in this Senate. I thank the Senator.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, would the Senator yield briefly that I might compliment him?

Mr. BYRD. Would he mind if I asked to be a cosponsor of this resolution?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, this proposal by Senator Kohl and myself simply authorizes the attorney general of a State to go into Federal district court and seek an injunction against any person importing alcohol into that State in violation of that State's law. Unfortunately, recent Federal court decisions have held that States do not necessarily have the power to seek such an injunction despite the fact that the 21st amendment to the Constitution and the Webb-Kenyon Act give States the power to prohibit alcohol importation. As a consequence, many States are at a loss when it comes to enforcing their own laws. For those who may have concerns with this proposal, let me state unequivocally that the amendment will not restrict the lawful manufacture, advertisement, sale, transportation, or importation of any alcoholic beverage. As long as a distiller, or a brewer, or a winemaker complies with the laws of the given State, they will have no additional restrictions placed upon them by this amendment. The only ones who need to fear this amendment are those who are conducting their business in an unlawful manner, particularly those who are willing to sell alcohol to our children. Mr. President, as the Senate considers this juvenile justice bill, designed to reduce the scourge of youth violence and crime, I beseech my colleagues to remember that alcohol use and abuse constitute an important facet of this national problem. Let us not overlook the pernicious effects that alcohol has on our young people. Let us not turn our backs on them by foregoing this opportunity to put a stop to those who choose to evade our laws. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Mrs. FEINSTEIN addressed the Chair.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I regret that, earlier today, I was compelled to vote against the Majority Leader's cloture motion with respect to S. 96, the Y2K litigation reform bill. I did so, however, for the simple reason that I believe it is vitally important that the Senate first complete its business on the juvenile justice bill before moving on to other business. We are on the verge of finishing our work on this much-needed legislation, and it would have been, in my opinion, a grotesque waste of time and effort to simply throw that away in some artificial rush to proceed to the Y2K bill. Despite my vote, I look forward to having the opportunity to turn our attention to the Y2K litigation problem as soon as we have finished our work on the issue of youth crime and violence. Mr. LEAHY addressed the Chair.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I would like to briefly explain my reasons for voting in favor of amendment No. 344, offered by Senators Hatch and Craig, to S. 254, the juvenile justice bill. I am extremely disappointed that the amendment does not close the loophole permitting sales of firearms at gun shows without background checks. I supported, and continue to support, the amendment offered by Senator Lautenberg, that would close the gun show loophole once and for all. I regret that the Hatch amendment does not go as far as that of my colleague from New Jersey. Nonetheless, I recognize that there are not yet the votes in the Senate to pass the Lautenberg amendment and I do not wish to overlook the positive crime-fighting proposals that the Hatch amendment makes. These include establishment of the CUFF (``Criminal Use of Firearms by Felons'') program, which will provide $50 million for tougher enforcement of existing gun laws, and expansion of the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative, to facilitate the identification and prosecution of gun traffickers. The Hatch amendment also sets tough penalties for gun offenses involving juveniles and seeks to facilitate background checks for gun purchases. These are important, worthy provisions, and they are the reason for my voting in favor of the Hatch amendment.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I have scoured the newspapers in recent days in an effort to begin to unravel the pieces of the puzzle that led two young teenage boys to commit such senseless atrocity at Columbine High School. It is long past time to stop wringing our hands over this issue of school violence. We can no longer afford to sit idly by, watching our nation's schools being infiltrated by hoodlums and hate groups more concerned with converting schools into places of fear than maintaining them as havens of learning and enlightenment. This Congress and the American people must join forces and take action now to protect our young. Now, that is very easy to say--very easy to say. And I think everyone would agree on that, that they must join forces. We must find ways to restore discipline. Now, that is a little tougher. That is a little harder to bring about. We must find ways to restore discipline. The ancient Romans practiced discipline. And it began in the home where the children were taught to venerate their ancestors, to respect their gods. They were pagan gods, but nevertheless they were the gods of the Romans. And the young men and women in the homes were taught to revere their parents and to respect the law. Each Roman believed that the gods had designed a destiny for Rome. And each Roman believed that it was his duty to help bring about the fulfillment of that destiny which the gods had designed for the Roman state. That discipline overflowed from the home and into the Roman legions, and it was in great part because of that iron discipline that the Roman legions were enabled to conquer all of the nations around the Mediterranean Sea and to subjugate them. It was that discipline that was first learned at the hearth, in the family circle, in the home. That is where it has to start today. That is exactly where it has to begin today--in the homes. We must instill in our children basic values and provide them with the knowledge and the skills to confront the many demands that are placed upon our society. We must prevent, if we can, a recurrence of these ruthless slaughters that continue to rock the institutional base of our Nation's education system. It is now time to do what we can. I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, by the grace of God I intend to do. It is time to do what we can do, and to search out additional avenues that will return peace and tranquility to our schools and our society. So, today, I heed my words, and come to this hallowed chamber to take an essential step forward in this unfolding national debate by joining with my colleagues Senator Lieberman and Senator McCain to call for the convening of a National Commission on Youth Violence. I know we appoint lots of commissions. I spoke of the Romans a while ago. So did they; they appointed commissions. I make mention of the Romans many times. Of course, I could speak of our English forebears as well. But I mention the Romans because Montesquieu thought that the ancient Romans were a unique people. The framers were acquainted with Montesquieu. He admired the ancient Romans so much that he wrote a history of the ancient Romans. It was back several years ago, when we were discussing the line-item veto, I thought that, inasmuch as Montesquieu had studied with thoroughness the ancient Romans, I would do the same. And it was there that he learned about checks and balances, and separation of powers--in his study of the Romans. So they appointed commissions as well. This amendment, which I am pleased to learn has been accepted into the managers' package, focuses on the formidable challenge of identifying and reconciling the root causes, the underlying motives, and the influences fueling this widening streak of lawlessness plaguing the heart and soul of America. By gathering together men and women of the highest caliber of expertise in law enforcement, school administration, child and adolescent psychology, parenting and family studies, we call upon all parties--all parties--to listen and learn, galvanizing a true national discussion on school safety. This National Commission will seek difficult answers to some difficult questions--What drives children to commit such violence? When I was a little boy and when I was a young man, we never heard of such violence. We would never have thought of carrying a gun to school. The most outrageous thing I ever did in school back in that little two-room school--I was always glad when the teacher appointed me as one of the two boys who would go over the hill to the spring house and bring back to the school a bucket of water, out of which we all drank. We all drank out of the same bucket and with the same dipper. One day, I decided to put a few tadpoles in my pocket and put those tadpoles on the desk of one of the little girl classmates. Well, I thought it was funny, but when the teacher got through with me, it wasn't so funny. She didn't think it was funny. On another occasion, when I was in high school, I was asked by one of my teachers, whose name was Margaret McKone, a question. I said, ``Huh?'' And I went on reading at my desk. I was not aware of the fact that she walked to the back of the room, came up the aisle, and had gotten just level with me until she slammed me in the face with a hard smack of her hand. I can feel it still, and I can feel the embarrassment that went along with it. She said, ``Robert, don't you ever say `huh' to me again.'' I did not give her any back talk, and I never said ``huh'' to her again. My old coal miner dad said: If you ever get a whipping in school, you will get another one when you get home. I knew something about his whippings. He started out with a hickory limb. Later, as I became a little older, he used a razor strap. One day, we had a substitute teacher. We never thought of doing violence in school. Violence? Why, it wasn't allowed in our school. Nobody talked about violence. I took a piece of paper and I folded it and made myself a toy airplane. When I saw the teacher's back was turned--this was a substitute teacher, as I say--when the substitute teacher's back was turned, I sailed that paper airplane across the room. The teacher turned just in time to see the airplane still suspended in air and my outstretched hand. He said, ``Robert, come up here.'' He called me to the front of the class. He put a chair up there. He said, ``Robert, get up in that chair.'' He drew a circle on the blackboard and said, ``Stick your nose in the center of that circle.'' I did. When I did, there were resounding whacks on my posterior which I will never forget, after which I turned to my seat red faced amid the snickers of my classmates. They were somewhat veiled snickers, but I heard them. It was embarrassing. I got just what I asked for. What would you think of the things some children are doing in school these days? They are not sailing paper airplanes. And up until a few years ago, we did not have these outrageous, violent crimes being committed by youngsters. My old coal miner dad never bought me a cap buster at Christmastime. I was lucky to get an apple, or an orange, or a piece of candy. He never bought me a cap buster. He never bought me a cowboy suit. He always got me a drawing tablet or a watercolor set or a book. He taught me to learn. He urged me to learn so I would not have to work in the coal mine. Those were the two people who raised me. They were religious people. They were not of the religious left, not of the religious right. They did not make a big whoop-de-doo over their religion, but they were religious. How did I know? Many times when the lights were out and in my early boyhood, the house was lighted by a kerosene lamp. We did not have any running water in the house, no electricity. But when the light was out, I would hear that great lady who raised me praying. I would hear her praying in another room. I knew she was on her knees. I had seen her many times on her knees. When my old coal miner dad left this world, he did not owe any man a penny. They taught me to be honest, pay your debts, and work, work hard. It never hurt anybody. It may have killed John Henry, but that is about all I can recall. We were taught to work, to be honest, to revere our father and mother. The Bible says: Honor thy father and thy mother. We were taught to do that, not talk back. Thank God I am one of those few Americans left who grew up in the Great Depression, who knows something about the Great Depression, who was in school during the Great Depression. I was the coal mining community's scrap boy. I went around the coal town and gathered the scraps from the coal miners' tables and fed my dad's pigs. He always bought about 10 to 12 Poland China pigs. I would feed those pigs. I would gather the scraps year round. I was the village scrap boy. Some people called it the village ``slop boy,'' the town's ``slop boy.'' When we were in school, we always had prayer every morning and pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States. I am the only Member of 535 Members of this Congress today who can say that I was here, in Congress, on June 7, 1954, when the House of Representatives voted to insert the words ``under God'' into the Pledge of Allegiance-- ``under God,'' on June 7, 1954. The Senate followed suit the next day, and on June 14 it became a law. The first thing we did was have prayer. They do not do that these days. It did not hurt any of us. It was good for us. If there is anything about which I would amend the first amendment, it would be that. I am not above amending the Constitution, but I think we had better be very slow about it. Don't do it very often, certainly. But that is one thing that I think would help, if the Nation returned to God first. ``Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Bring up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.'' When we parents are looking around wringing our hands and we politicians are looking around and wringing our hands saying, ``What should we do?'' let's return to some of the country's basics, the fundamentals that made this a great nation. The Bible says remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set. That is one of the old landmarks. We have gotten too far away, drifting too far from the shore. My friend from Alabama will remember that old hymn--drifting too far from the shore. I will tell you, there is nothing wrong with this Nation that some old-time religion will not cure. It does not have to be my religion; it does not have to be a Baptist; it does not have to be Methodist, Presbyterian, whatever--just a basic belief in a Creator. Now, you might say: Well, Charles Darwin didn't believe that. You read his books. Read his books. He mentions the Creator in ``The Origin of Species.'' And in ``The Descent of Man,'' he said he made a mistake in ``The Origin of Species,'' he had exaggerated, he had gone too far. We can pass all the laws that we can pass, all the laws we care to pass, but it has to start out in the home. In the home, that is where it begins. That is the root. So what drives children to such violence? Why are students taking the lives of their classmates? How do we prevent future incidents like those at Columbine High School from recurring? I hope the commission can find some prescriptions for change as a result of these explorations. But perhaps, most important of all, the commission's mandate will serve as a catalyst for our Nation's parents, teachers, industry leaders, and their communities, to each--each; you, me; each; him, her; each--take responsibility in protecting our Nation's children. One of the many charges delegated to the National Commission is an exploration of the ever-important role of school teachers and administrators in the lives of their students--school teachers. Part of the cure, I believe, lies in the need to restore basic discipline-- basic discipline--to the classroom. When I was a young boy, I attended to my lessons and I attended to my lessons. I threw a paper airplane once in a while, but I attended to my lessons. And in a two-room schoolhouse my teachers were my role models. I wanted to be the best in the algebra class; I wanted to be the best in the geometry class; I wanted to please my teacher, and I wanted to please that old couple who took me to raise. They were my role models. I have met, in my long political career, with kings and shahs and princes and queens and Presidents and Governors and men and women of the highest station in this world, but one of the few great men whom I ever came to know was that old coal miner dad who raised me. He was a great man. I never heard him say God's name in vain in all the years I was with him--not once, not once. So those teachers, along with my adoptive parents, taught me the so- called ``old values'' of integrity, honesty, respect, and loyalty that I carry with me to this very day. Now, I am no paragon. I do not claim to be a paragon of rectitude or whatever, but, as Popeye used to say, I am what I am. My old dad and mom, they taught me to be what I am, and they taught me to believe in a higher power, taught me to believe in God. Now, if parents ingrain that kind of teaching in the child, they may stray from the righteous path from time to time but they will come back, they will come back. The classroom was a sacred precinct where a quiet and wholesome environment prevailed, and where students came to learn. They came to learn the fundamentals of math and science and grammar and literature and history. Discipline was expected and discipline was enforced. And on that little report card that I took back home, there was one item, deportment--deportment. I was always careful that my dad would see a good mark in every category, and particularly in deportment. When disorder broke out, as it did very rarely, the teacher had the authority and the command of the classroom to bring students to upright and full attention. Mr. President, I know that it is easy to hear someone from my generation speaking of morals and values and the way things used to be and simply dismiss those words and sentiments as being old-fashioned or out of step with the world today. Well, in some things I do not want to be in step with the world today. Let the world go its way. But for the sake of our future, I think we can learn from our past. Today, the discipline that we once knew has eroded to the point that students no longer resolve conflicts with words, but with weapons. The normal angst of adolescence has given way to anger and outright violence. As a consequence, we have teachers who fear the very environment in which they one day thrived, wondering whether they, too, might be caught in the line of fire. I remember there was a class in agriculture when I was in school in Spanishburg, WV, may I say to the distinguished Senator from Missouri, who is presiding over the Senate today with a degree of dignity and skill that is so rare as a day in June. The teacher was talking about the potato and about the eyes of the potato. He called on me and asked me a question. I thought it would be funny if I said that the potato got dirt in its eyes. I thought that was kind of funny. And he said, ``Robert, stand up. Now, you apologize to the class for what you just said.'' See, I was making a little light of a serious matter. I thought I was being a kind of showoff, which I did not particularly try to do many times. But he said, ``You stand up and you apologize to the class.'' And I apologized to the class. Mr. President, our teachers deserve the opportunity to teach just as our children deserve the opportunity to learn. A Builder builded a temple, He wrought it with grace and skill; Pillars and groins and arches All fashioned to work his will. Men said, as they saw its beauty, ``It shall never know decay; Great is thy skill, O Builder! Thy fame shall endure for aye.'' A teacher builded a temple With loving and infinite care, Planning each arch with patience, Laying each stone with prayer. None praised her unceasing efforts, None knew of her wondrous plan, For the temple the Teacher builded Was unseen by the eyes of man. Gone is the Builder's temple, Crumbled into the dust; Low lies each stately pillar, Food for consuming rust. But the temple the Teacher builded Will last while the ages roll, For that beautiful unseen temple Was a child's immortal soul. So the worth of a good teacher can never be measured. But without the involvement of parents, I fear that the madness overrunning our nation's classrooms will not abate. We have sadly learned that, all too frequently, one parent's complacency can result in another parent's worst nightmare. And so I call upon parents to be alert and active participants in their child's education--whether it means attending parent-teacher conferences or reviewing their child's math assignments. Parents should strive to know their children inside and out--their temperament, their habits, their strengths and their weaknesses. And they should make it a priority to know their children's friends and the parents of their children's friends. In today's two-working parent society, such supervision is extremely difficult and places a greater burden on the community, as a whole, to look at this dilemma in a new light, and to help parents juggle competing demands. It is my hope that the National Commission will help parents refocus on this role of individual responsibility, reinforcing the urgency in parents' stepping up to the plate, and enabling them to take a more active and involved role in their children's lives. Furthermore, with parents caught up in the hustle and bustle of their own everyday life, many children today have much too much unsupervised time on their hands, with free run of their own money--I never knew what it was to have a loose nickel in my pocket when I was a boy--and their own leisure activities. Mr. President, I do not mean to discourage the idea of children working after school. It instills within our children at a young age a strong work ethic and an appreciation for the value of a dollar. If you want to know the value of money, try and borrow some. For some families, it is necessary to ensure that the family's needs are met, or to save for college. But too often, at the hands of disengaged parents, the lessons have been lost, with after-school jobs serving only to enable misconduct--giving young people the unchecked financial means to purchase guns and to buy bomb- making materials. Once again, we witness the eternal need for parents to be an integral component of their children's lives, to teach them right from wrong, and be their first line of defense in leading them away from these kinds of troubling situations. Today, with the overwhelming amount of violence and amorality inundating kids' minds from the media and entertainment industry, parents face an even greater challenge than before. How fortunate my wife and I are that our children, our two daughters, were virtually grown women before we had a television set in our home. I know it must be more difficult today than it was when our two daughters grew up. It saddens me to think that we have reached a point where a National Commission is necessary to explore these pervasive negative influences--movies. I have been in the Washington area 47 years this year. I have been to one movie in that 47 years, and I haven't lost anything. I have watched some good movies--Alistair Cooke's great movies, performed by British actors who knew the English language and who could speak it well: ``The Six Wives of Henry VIII,'' ``Elizabeth R,'' great movies. But I went to one movie. I walked out before it was over. It was boring. Yul Brynner played in that movie. I walked out. I haven't lost anything. But I have seen some great movies on television, I mean great movies. I wouldn't waste my time on trash, because I don't have a lot of time. You don't either. You don't have much time. We are only here a short time. Why waste it on trash--movies, video games, television. I suppose if I had young children in my house, the first thing I would take out is the television set. Take it out. And they wouldn't miss anything except a lot of junk. That is not to say that television is all bad. It is a great medium, a great medium for informing the people. It is a great medium, a great tool for good, but all too often the programming is absolutely lousy. It is built around the dollar, the dollar. What can make money. Movies, video games, television, the Internet, and other free-wheeling vehicles, to explore these pervasive negative influences for disseminating smut and violence, smut and violence. You watch many of the advertisements on the TV. They are full of violence, the advertisements themselves. It is particularly troublesome that the bad tends to overshadow the good aspects of the entertainment arena. When I think of movies such as the recent ``October Sky,'' which tells the story of three young boys growing up in Coalwood, West Virginia in the late 1950s, with a dream to build and launch their own homemade rockets in the hopes of winning the National Science Fair's college scholarship awards, I realize that there, too, are wholesome stories to be told. The kind that inspire and motivate youth to push beyond their daily homework assignments and to shoot for the stars. To find a mission in life, once thought impossible, and tackle it. The kind of movie that all parents ought to take their children to see. There are some good movies. We have learned from the recent events the ease with which a youngster can access dangerous information, dial up polluted Web sites advertising recipes for bomb making and solicitations for joining hate groups. Likewise, we know that violent video games in the home and at the arcade confuse or override a child's moral sense of right from wrong by rewarding them with points for shooting their enemy dead. Until we find solutions to curb or counteract this madness spewing forth from the TV set, the radio, and cyberspace, we, as a community, must demonstrate greater vigilance and care, and think twice before giving our children free rein of the remote control or leaving inquisitive young minds unattended in the wilderness of cyberspace. Mr. President, seemingly, in the blink of an eye, we have witnessed the true demise of part of the American dream. The once peaceful and serene schoolhouse has been marred by episodes of violence and bloodshed, with precious young children falling victim--children who may have grown up one day to be great teachers, great physicians, great lawyers, great architects, great physicists, businessmen and women. There is no one-step solution to ending schoolyard slaughters, but it is my strong hope that this National Commission will provide answers to the many whys and hows infesting America's psyche, and begin to remedy this harrowing problem once and for all. Let us all work together to ensure that the tragic events of Columbine are not revisited in another American neighborhood. I took a piece of plastic clay And idly fashioned it one day And as my fingers pressed it still It moved and yielded to my will. I came again when days were past, The bit of clay was hard at last. The form I gave it, it still bore, And I could change that form no more. I took a piece of living clay And gently formed it day by day. And molded with my power and art A young child's soft and yielding heart. I came again when years were gone, He was a man I looked upon. He still that early impress wore, And I could change him nevermore. Our children, the home, that is where we got off the track. That is where we are going to have to get back on the track--the home. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Mr. SESSIONS addressed the Chair.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, is the bill open for my amendment now?

Mr. BYRD. I yield to the Senator from Nevada.

Mr. BYRD. Gladly.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the Senator from California will certainly have an opportunity to oppose my amendment. Anybody else will certainly have an opportunity to do that.

Mr. BYRD. Would the Senator remind repeating his request?