Word: byrds
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...statement considerably brightened the treaties' prospects, said Majority Leader Byrd, whom Carter called to inform of the new understanding: "It goes beyond my expectations. I was very, very gratified. In my mind, it clears up the disputed points...
...doubts and denunciations mounted, Senate Democratic Leader Robert Byrd signaled Carter, during a private dinner at the White House, that the treaties were in deep trouble-and in fact would not be approved by the Senate without modifications clarifying two critical points: 1) the right of U.S. intervention after 1999 and 2) the right of U.S. warships to have priority in transiting the canal in emergencies. Carter then decided to take the initiative. Early in the week he invited the leaders of the Senate and the Foreign Relations Committee to the White House. Over coffee and doughnuts, he showed them...
...Muskie eventually got the floor, he accused the Vice President of arbitrarily creating "a new order of things, a change in the rules." Colorado Democrat Gary Hart charged that "the U.S. Senate has seen an outrageous act.'' Swiftly, the senatorial anger zeroed in on Byrd. By now, Byrd was burning too. Referring to the weeklong filibuster, despite the vote for cloture, he insisted, "I have not abused the leadership's prerogatives. I am trying to keep Senators from abusing the Senate." Byrd admitted that he had taken "extraordinary advantage of my prerogative as leader," but insisted that...
With that, Byrd backed off. He promised to call up no more amendments for Mondale to knock down. In theory, the filibuster was still alive. But Abourezk and Metzenbaum, convinced that Carter had sold them out and had sent Mondale in to break up the talkathon, had lost heart...
After the emotion-fraught session that broke the filibuster, the rest of the week's actions in the Senate seemed anticlimactic. But they were far from that. For one thing, Byrd and Baker quickly appointed informal committees to propose changes in Rule 22, now shot through with procedural holes. The outcome could have considerable impact on the Senate's jealously guarded tradition of unlimited speech. Then there was the energy bill itself. The day after the filibuster was killed, so was Carter's proposal for keeping price controls on natural gas. While deregulation is all but certain...