Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Out of respect for those, Mr. President----

Mr. BYRD. I ask unanimous consent to proceed for 1 more minute.

Mr. BYRD. Can we not at least respect the people who are being sent overseas to fight and die, possibly? Can't we, out of respect, at least shut down the Senate for today and go home? Why do we have to debate this while they are giving of their all? Remember, we are raining destruction upon a city of a state that has not attacked this country. There are men and women, old people and young people, sick and dying people there. At least we should have enough respect to quit now. We have done a good day's work. We passed 15, 16, 17 amendments by rollcall votes. Why do we have to continue? We don't have to--not for the political reason of getting action completed on this resolution before we find out what the administration is going to ask for in the supplemental. I hope Senators will insist on our going over to next week. Our staffs haven't had a chance to read the amendments. Senators don't know what is in these amendments. I don't.

Mr. BYRD. Let's take the weekend and have our clerks read them so they can better advise us next week. I ask Senators to think about that.

Mr. BYRD. Will the Senator yield?

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

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, there may be men and women dying right now in the Arabian desert. Here we are talking about a budget resolution which is required by law to be passed by April 15. The administration has not added one penny in this budget for the war. They have not added anything in this budget for the war. If we were debating a war budget today, it might be different. But we are not debating a war budget. There is no money in this budget by the administration for the war. Yet we are fighting a war. Why the hurry, when the deadline is April 15? Why the hurry? We have asked the administration, I have asked the administration and representatives of the administration what is the cost of the war. How much is it going to cost. What is the cost of this war. The Secretary of Defense has answered it is not knowable. Here we are, the elected representatives of the people who want to know something about the cost of the war. The administration has said: It is not knowable. The administration has said, in essence, wait until you see the supplemental. We will send you the supplemental. The answer to our questions have been rather contemptuous, in saying: Well, we don't know the cost. We will let you know when we send up the bill. Why don't we wait and see what the supplemental is going to ask for? Why don't we wait and see what the administration asks for in the supplemental before we proceed with the budget? I cannot understand the hurry. We have at least two Members who have had serious operations. I don't mind staying a little while longer, but I have a responsibility also at home. If it were absolutely necessary that we complete this budget tonight, I would stay as long as I could, and if I had to go home, I would go home and let the Senate finish it. But this resolution doesn't have to be done tonight. This is not a war budget. The administration has nothing in this budget for the war. The administration has stiff-armed, as far as I am concerned, the Congress, those of us who have wanted to know something about what are the costs of this war. The administration has given us the back of their hand. Here we are; we are being asked to rush through a budget that is not a war budget, no money in this budget for the war, and yet there is a war going on right now. Go look at your television sets and see the destruction that is being rained upon a capital city of a state that has not attacked the United States. Why can't we wait until we find out what the administration is going to request in a supplemental and then deal with the budget? There is absolutely no necessity for dealing with this budget tonight. Suppose you lose a man here in the Senate because we continue to press for action on this budget tonight? You could lose a man. You could lose two. We have had plenty of time. We have had plenty of time. The administration should have told us how much they need in the supplemental. I have a feeling we are going to be asked for $65 to $80 billion, maybe $100 billion for the war in that supplemental. Why not wait and see what the administration is asking for in the supplemental before we proceed with this budget? We have a huge tax cut in this budget, $1.3 trillion in tax cuts. So we want to pass the tax cuts before we find out how much the administration is going to request in a supplemental for fighting the war. Men and women are dying. We ought not be on this budget today. We ought to at least show some respect for our own men and women. We are sending our own men and women across the sea to a foreign land where they may die and their families here today are worrying and crying and praying about their loved ones. That is saying nothing about the Iraqi men and women, old women, young women, old men, young men, sick people, children, babies.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I have been around here long enough to know what the regular order is. I also have been around here long enough to know that we are being asked to stay here and spend the rest of the evening. We may send some old men to their deaths by doing this. I have a sick wife. Sixty-nine days from now, if the Lord lets both of us live, we will celebrate our 66th wedding anniversary. My first duty is to her. There will be enough Senators left here to pass this bill if we want to stay that long. But I think it is unreasonable. If there were a reason to stay here, I would say, let's stay here and do our duty. But there is no reason for that, except to get this resolution passed before we know what the administration is going to request in a supplemental to fight this war. Now, call for the regular order if you want to. Mr. President, I say it is time that we agree on a few more amendments, act on a few more, and go over to next week. The administration, I understand, is going to fight me down at the White House to tell me about the supplemental next Tuesday as a ranking member of the Appropriations Committee. Let them tell us that first, and then let's complete action on this massive tax cut. Mr. President, I hope reason will prevail today. There is time to pass this bill later. It doesn't have to be done today. Let's go home, at least out of respect for the men and the women who are being sent. They didn't ask to go to foreign lands, possibly to fight and die.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I have an amendment. I send the amendment to the desk.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, may we have order in the Senate?

Mr. BYRD. I thank the distinguished Senator from Nevada.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the budget resolution currently before the Senate cuts funding for Amtrak by almost 22 percent. There is no question that this funding level will put Amtrak into bankruptcy during the next fiscal year. We must not let that happen. The bipartisan Amtrak board of directors has stated that Amtrak needs $1.8 billion next year to operate all its trains and make a minimum level of capital investment. That board includes several Republicans. This amendment that I offer with Senator Lautenberg would fund Amtrak at that $1.8 billion level. It is paid for by reducing the tax cut by just $900 million for 1 year. We need to stop having our national passenger railroad service just survive from one financial crisis to the next. We need to allow the next president of Amtrak to continue to reform Amtrak, rather than oversee its liquidation. I encourage all Senators to save rail service in this country and support this amendment.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, may we hear the reading of the amendment?

Mr. BYRD. Or reading can be dispensed with. We have not heard the reading of the amendment.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. And I thank my distinguished colleague, the Democratic whip, for his characteristic courtesy and attention to matters in the Senate, and his always readiness to help other Senators in getting recognition. I thank him very much. Springtime Mr. President, this is my 85th year, but it is my 86th coming of spring. I am 85 years old--85 years young--but this is my 86th first day of spring. So, Mr. President, at long last spring has arrived. How sweet it is. How sweet it is. Spring has arrived. After a long gray winter made darker by the specter of war, and with that conflict now upon us, it is heartening to be reminded of the great rhythm of the seasons and the renewal of the earth and the life upon it. Now Nature hangs her mantle green On every blooming tree, And spreads her sheets o' daisies white Out o'er the grassy lea So wrote the poet Robert Burns. On the world stage, war plays a leading role, demanding our attention with the strident clangor of steel and the tramp of marching troops. But in the wings, subtly repainting the background sets, spring softens the scenery and gives us hope for the rebirth of peace. Bright crocuses blanket the ground in a confetti of color and the green ink of new growth stains the tawny fields of winter. The redbuds cover the hillsides in a rosy blush as bare forests rush to cover themselves in verdant blankets of new leaves. Banks of nodding daffodils cheer the anxious hearts of families worrying over loved ones in uniform far from home. Last year, a dry and mild winter caused spring bulbs to bloom in February. This year, as snowfall after snowfall piled up on lawns and roads, it seemed as if no flower could survive in the icy soil. Seed catalogs languished unread as we shoveled sidewalks and scraped windshields. We told ourselves that we needed the moisture and that the snow would replenish the groundwater, but these charitable thoughts faded as we faced another foot of new-fallen snow, another miserable commute, another slushy slog across parking lot melt. It was a long and wearing winter, and for those in the northern latitudes of the United States, it lingers on still. In Washington, and in West Virginia, however, we are emerging from our dens like bears--shaggy, lean, and hungry for spring. Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising Sweet With charm of earliest birds; pleasant The sun When first on this delightful land he Spreads His orient beams on herb, tree, fruit And flower. The poet John Milton wrote those words. I look forward to turning away from the incessant news coverage of war, and I look forward to spending a few precious moments outside listening instead to the spring peepers--those little frogs whose singing brings back boyhood memories of long ago, bubbling springs along Wolf Creek Hollow in Mercer County, WV. Their singing coincided with the arrival of warmer weather and with it, a welcome respite from those bitter early morning walks to school, cold hands wrapped around my lunch pail handle, coat collar turned up against the wind that transformed tender ears into red popsicles. As I tend to the simple routines of springtime--cleaning up the sticks and leaves strewn across the yard by the winter winds, preparing my small garden, of four or five or six or seven tomato plants weeding and fertilizing the lawn--I shall look upon the spring flowers in all their finery. The forsythia, the lilac, the hyacinth, all are undaunted by the code oranges and the code reds. They care nothing for al-Qaida terrorists or Tomahawk missiles, for M1-A1 tanks or F-117 bombers, for sandy battlefields or military strikes. In their benevolence, they show the same cheerful faces to Presidents and dictators, to soldiers and to the loved ones those soldiers leave behind. In their camps in Kuwait and in their bivouacs in the desert, our brave troops will not see a daffodil this spring. But God's daffodil are there for them, just as we are, our support as eternal and dependable as the arrival of spring. I hope that they can take comfort in knowing that the daffodils still bloom and that spring has come at last. With my prayers for their safety and quick success, I wish them the energy and purpose of spring. May they soon be restored to their loved ones, to us, to enjoy a beautiful springtime at home. I yield the floor.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I object.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Will the distinguished Senator yield for a question?

Mr. BYRD. Would it be possible to move the 4 o'clock vote, say, to 4:30 in order to get these speeches ahead of the vote? It could be included in the series of votes.

Mr. BYRD. I thank the Senator.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the very distinguished Senator from Michigan, Mr. Levin, for his courtesy, his characteristic accommodative spirit. I also thank the distinguished Senator from Virginia for his characteristic courtesy always. I thank those who have written this resolution. Months of uncertainty over the fate of Iraq ended with the first U.S. air strikes on Baghdad. Today, regardless of where any of us stand on the decision to go to war, we are all Americans, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the men and women of the U.S. military who have been called to battle in a foreign land. Few doubt the outcome of this war. The fate of Iraq is sealed. The United States, with its awesome military might, is virtually certain to prevail decisively. But the fate of the individual soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who will carry the battle to Iraq is far less certain. We pray that every man and woman engaged in the war will return home safely and soon. Our troops will face intense dangers as the mission to unseat Saddam Hussein proceeds. When our airplanes penetrate the sky above Iraq to deliver computer-guided bombs to their targets, and our ground troops begin their armored charge through the deserts of Iraq, our men and women in uniform surely know that one unlucky shot could send their families into mourning for a fallen patriot. There are unknown perils as well. We do not know if Iraqi civilians will unite to repel a foreign enemy from their homes. We do not know if Iraq's military will lure us into bloody, house-to-house fighting. We do not know if Saddam Hussein will use chemical or biological weapons against our forces. I pray that the sons and daughters of the United States will never face these grave risks to their safety. More than 225,000 U.S. troops are now involved. True to its traditions of service to our country, West Virginia continues to have the highest per capita rates of participation in our armed forces. Thousands of West Virginians are now carrying out missions to defeat Saddam Hussein, protect our homeland, and root out terrorists in Afghanistan. Thirty-three different units of the National Guard and military reserves based in the Mountain State are now activated. The 459th Engineer Company, based in Bridgeport, must now be readying to bridge the ancient Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The 1092nd Engineer Battalion, based in Parkersburg, has been called to duty and might soon join in that effort. The 130th and 167th Airlift Wings are using their cargo aircraft to move men and materiel to where they are needed. West Virginians attached to the 363rd, 157th, and 304th Military Police Companies, out of Grafton, Martinsburg, and Bluefield, stand ready to maintain law and order in places far distant from their homes and families. These are but a few of the multitude of tasks now being carried out by West Virginia mountaineers in service to our country. The men and women of these military units, like the rest of our troops, did not join the armed forces to fight Saddam Hussein. They did not ask to be sent to the harsh climes of the Arabian desert. Our troops volunteered to serve our country and uphold our Constitution. They are to be commended for their dedication to our country. I stand foursquare behind our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. I urge every American to pray for our troops, and pray that they will return safely from those faraway sands, to the loving arms of their families. I will do everything in my power as a member of the Appropriations Committee, and as a member of the Armed Services Committee to provide our troops with the funds that are needed to ensure their safety. I do not agree with every word of this resolution. I have strong reservations that the new doctrine of preemption does not meet the test of international law. I have strong reservations about the assertion that the Congress has ``fully authorized'' this war against Iraq. I do not believe that Congress can cede its constitutional power to declare war to the President of the United States. I have questions about our long-term strategy for the reconstruction of Iraq, the plans to democratize the Middle East, and the application of the pre-emptive doctrine that has led the United States to war in 2003. But I have no question about the ability of our military to deliver a crushing blow to whatever army might stand in their way in Iraq. I have no question that our armed forces will carry out their mission with honor and resolve. I have no question that our Nation has the obligation to finish the job and destroy whatever chemical, biological, and radiological weapons that Saddam Hussein possess. Last night, in his address to the Nation, the President said that ``our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.'' I support these words by the President, for they speak to the millions of Americans who now wonder when their loved ones might return home. This is the ultimate measure of support that our Government can give to our military servicemen and women. We do not know how long this war might last, or how long our troops might occupy Iraq after our victory. We should not rule out the possibility that Saddam Hussein could flee at anytime during the course of the battle, precluding further carnage. In the coming days, the television news is sure to show pictures of smart bombs dropping on targets, and perhaps grainy, night-time images of our troops moving to take their objectives. These sanitized images do not reflect the true cost of war. They cannot hope to convey the perils that our military will encounter as the war continues. But I hope the words spoken on the floor of the Senate today will convey the deep and abiding support of every Member of this body for the men and women of the United States military serving in the Persian Gulf. I close by referring to those words by Longfellow in ``The Building of the Ship'': Thou, too, sail, on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate! We know what Master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 'Tis of the wave and not the rock; 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale! In spite of rock and tempest's roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with three,--are all with thee!

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with several of my colleagues to offer an amendment to boost transportation funding for the 6-year period to be covered by the next highway bill. The enactment of a new surface transportation bill will be a mammoth task for the 108th Congress. No group of Senators is more familiar with the depth of this challenge than the principal cosponsors of this amendment. In my more than 56 years in elected office, I have always served in a legislative body. I served in the West Virginia House of Delegates and the West Virginia Senate. I served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before joining the Senate roughly 45 years ago. Over all those years, I have been called on to vote on thousands of amendments. As such, I learned a long time ago to take careful note, not just of the substance of each amendment, but also who is offering it. As such, I ask all Senators to take careful note of the principal cosponsors of this amendment. They include the chairman and ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee; the chairman and ranking member of that committee's Subcommittee on Surface Transportation; the chairman and ranking member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee; and, the chairman and ranking member of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. What unites all these Senators is an acute knowledge of the challenges that stand in front of us as we seek to reauthorize the TEA- 21 law. What also unites us is an acute knowledge of the true needs of our transportation system, whether it is the need to renew our aging highway infrastructure or expand the capacity of our mass transit systems. While we are required to reauthorize every 6 years, many of us face these issues every year. Indeed, both Senators Bond and Reid, in addition to their authorizing responsibilities, serve with me on Senator Shelby's and Senator Murray's Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. Just last month, we all worked together to reject the Bush administration's attempt to cut highway spending by some $8.6 billion. We were successful in restoring almost every penny of that cut. But when we assess the current conditions of our highway system and the growing demands our society places on that system, each one of us knows that holding steady at the current level of funding is simply not adequate. And that is what brings this bipartisan group of Senators to the floor today. Together, we are offering an amendment to substantially boost our level of investment in both highways and mass transit. And we ask all Senators to join with us in this effort. In a just a few weeks time, the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Banking Committee will begin in earnest to draft their portions of the surface transportation bill. During that time, I expect that each of my fellow Senators will be approaching the chairman and ranking member of these committees to articulate the most critical transportation needs for their states. For some Senators, their focus will be deteriorating highway bridges; for others it will be alternative fuel buses, or the widening of existing highways or the construction of new highways. Some Senators will be focused on the need to provide seismic retrofits of bridges near earthquake faults while other Senators will be looking for new commuter rail lines or even ferry terminals. No matter what the transportation needs are in their State, I implore each and every Senator to reflect seriously on these needs before they come to the floor and vote against this amendment. Much has been said over the last week about the need for this budget resolution to be based on the true budgetary realities that we face as a nation. We need to focus on the real world cost of the war. We need to focus on the real costs of a meaningful prescription drug benefit for our Medicare recipients. Here are some other real world facts that we must attend to: Approximately 30 percent of the bridges along our Nation's highway system are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. It would require $42 billion more in annual investment to actually make progress to improve the conditions of our Nation's highways. Put another way, if we continue as a nation to provide only inflationary increases in the current rate of highway spending, the condition of our Nation's highways will just continue to deteriorate. These are not the observations of Robert C. Byrd--they are the observations of the Bush administration's own report on the Condition and Performance of our National Transportation System. We must face these realities head on as we draft the next surface transportation bill. And to do so, we are going to need more resources--far more resources than are called for under the budget resolution we are currently debating. So I urge all Senators to join with me and the leadership of both the transportation authorizing committees and the transportation appropriations subcommittee in setting us on a path where we can make meaningful improvements to our highway and transit systems. I commend the bipartisan leadership of the transportation authorizing committees and I intend to stand with them as we seek to advance the cause of our Nation's mobility and prosperity.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I believe in this great and beautiful country. I have studied its roots and gloried in the wisdom of its magnificent Constitution and its inimitable history. I have marveled at the wisdom of its Founders and Framers. Generation after generation of Americans has understood the lofty ideals that underlie our great Republic. I have been inspired by the story of their sacrifice and their strength. But today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of American one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned. Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have succeeded in isolating ourselves. We proclaim a new doctrine of preemption which is understood by few but feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place. We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. We treat U.N. Security Council members like ingrates who offend our princely dignity by lifting their heads from the carpet. Valuable alliances are split. After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe. The case this administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence. We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason: This is not a war of necessity, but a war of choice. There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11, at least up to this point. The twin towers fell because a world-wide terrorist group, al Qaida, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influence by turning our own planes into missiles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beautiful Capitol except for the brave sacrifice of some of the passengers who were on board that plane. The brutality seen on September 11th and in other terrorist attacks we have witnessed around the globe are the violent and desperate efforts by extremists to stop the daily encroachment of Western values upon their cultures. That is what we fight. It is a force not confined to territorial borders. It is a shadowy entity with many faces, many names, and many addresses. But, this administration has directed all of the anger, fear, and grief which emerged from the ashes of the Twin Towers and the twisted metal of the Pentagon towards a tangible villain, one we can see and hate and attack. And villain he is. But he is the wrong villain. And this is the wrong war. If we attack Saddam Hussein, we will probably drive him from power. But the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on terrorism may have already taken flight. The general unease surrounding this war is not just due to ``orange alert.'' There is a pervasive sense of rush and risk and too many questions unanswered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ultimate mission? How great is the danger at home? A pall has fallen over the Senate Chamber. We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Americans, even while scores of thousands of our sons and daughters faithfully do their duty in Iraq. What is happening to this country--my country, your country, our country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends and calls them irrelevant? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy? Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire? War appears inevitable. But I continue to hope that the cloud will lift. Perhaps Saddam will yet turn tail and run. Perhaps reason will somehow still prevail. I along with millions, scores of millions of Americans will pray for the safety of our troops, for the innocent civilians--women, children, babies, old and young, crippled, deformed, sick--in Iraq, and for the security of our homeland. May God continue to bless the United States of America in the troubled days ahead, and may we somehow recapture the vision which for the present eludes us. Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.