Word: byrds
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...witching-hour theatrics stemmed from the frustration of Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd over the Republicans' filibuster of his cherished campaign finance-reform bill. Last year Byrd failed in seven attempts to muster the 60 votes needed to shut off a debate and bring the measure to a vote. Last week he decided to take off the gloves, declaring, "There is no point in continuing the casual, gentlemanly good-guy filibuster...
Instead of permitting the talking to stop at night so each side could sleep, Byrd enforced stern, old-fashioned filibuster rules reminiscent of the civil rights battles of the 1950s. He requisitioned 50 cots from the Army, set them up in the Capitol and vowed that if the Republicans yielded the floor even momentarily, the presiding Democrat would demand a vote on the bill. A cadre of Democrats, he said, would be assembled to pass...
Republicans, led by Assistant Minority Leader Alan Simpson of Wyoming, countered that strategy by demanding quorum calls, then vacating the chamber so the 51 required to continue business would be lacking. Byrd retaliated by ordering the sergeant at arms to corral any Republicans he could find. While Packwood took his arrest with good humor, he complained, "We work on comity around here. You can't do business on brute force." Republican Arlen Specter of Pennyslvania charged excitedly that the seizure of Senators "smacks of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia...
...clash over tactics obscured the argument about the merits of reform. The Democratic bill, co-sponsored by Byrd and Oklahoma's David Boren, would limit both spending by candidates and donations from their supporters. Republicans normally raise more money for Senate candidates than do Democrats, and they have no intention of relinquishing their advantage. Says Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, who has raised $1 million for his 1990 re-election: "We have done a better job of fund raising, and we're damn proud...
Bennett argues that the real problem is a shrinking pool of able black students, a problem felt nationwide, not just in the South. Says he: "In any one of these ten states, a black student will find, if he has qualifications, many institutions eager to have him." Jenell Byrd, an attorney for the Legal Defense Fund, disagrees, insisting that segregation remains an obstacle for Southern blacks who want to attend mostly white colleges. On that point, she claims, the Federal Government gets...