Word: abourezk
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...perhaps the most remarkable filibuster in Senate history, first-term Democrats James Abourezk of South Dakota and Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio turned the chamber into a marathon slumber party that kept the Senators up until dawn the first day, late the following night, and threatened to continue this week. Their stated objective: to block any move to lift the federal ceiling on the price of natural gas sold interstate. The ordeal was fresh evidence that an independent and unpredictable Senate is defying its own leadership and the White House. The week also marked the emergence of Byrd...
That position was not acceptable to Abourezk and Metzenbaum, who flatly oppose any decontrol. They believe the increase proposed by Carter-28? per m.c.f. -would be an unnecessary burden on consumers without significantly increasing the supply of natural gas. Said Abourezk: "If the Senate votes for deregulation, even if it's lost in conference, the gas boys will be back next year and the next and the next. If we can get both houses on record against it, that should settle...
...considered to be one of the chamber's most skillful parliamentarians. To head off their filibuster, he scheduled a cloture vote for Monday, Sept. 26. (Under Senate rules, this would limit debate on the subject to one hour for each Senator and bar any new amendments.) But Abourezk spotted a loophole in Byrd's strategy: old amendments could still be called up for action. So Partner Metzenbaum put his staff to work all weekend writing 508 amendments, mostly technical, which he filed only hours before the Senators voted 77 to 17 for closure. Then he and Abourezk insisted...
...sleep and listening for the bell that signaled roll calls. After several votes that were made harrowingly close by the absence of heavy sleepers, Byrd ordered aides to compile a roster of Senators, listing the nooks and hallways where they were catnapping, so they could be roused in time. Abourezk and Metzenbaum spelled each other occasionally and consented to several brief meal-and-shower breaks for their colleagues during the all-night session...
...find a solution." The one he found was a proposal by Henry ("Scoop") Jackson to raise the price ceiling to $2.03-higher than the Carter plan but lower than what decontrol advocates figured the free-market price would be ($2.75 to $3.25). Byrd won the approval of Abourezk and Metzenbaum for the Jackson compromise. But the Senators who favor decontrol refused to go along. To block the compromise -and prevent a move to freeze prices at the current ceiling-they began their own talk fest. Said Louisiana Democrat Russell Long: "A filibuster is an act of piracy. So if there...