Word: byrds
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...unwisely, Carter has insisted that both he and the Congress should have their first-year performance in domestic matters judged almost solely on the energy legislation. The tumultuous tone and tactics of the struggle?including a precedent-smashing Senate filibuster and a whip-cracking maneuver by Majority Leader Robert Byrd to end it?have reinforced the public perception of a wrangling and perhaps even ineffectual Congress...
...Congress failed to face up to some other heavy challenges, it was not always to blame. Senator Byrd did the President a favor in postponing Senate action on ratifying the Panama Canal treaties, since the required two-thirds majority was not yet in sight. Welfare reform got bogged down in the long debate over energy. With Carter's assent, tax reform too was put off until at least next year...
...with consummate finesse. One favorite tactic is to load bills with amendments he is willing to jettison. As each proposal goes over board, Long ? the model of compromise and sweet reason ? exacts support for the points that are truly dear to his heart. Says Majority Leader Robert Byrd: "He cut his teeth on this institution, and he's probably the most skillful tactician on the floor in managing his bills...
After Long reached the post of majority whip, a deteriorating marriage and a drinking problem eroded his power, and in 1969 he was unseated by Ted Kennedy. He repaid the favor two years later when he helped mastermind Byrd's upset victory for the whip post over Kennedy. Settled into a new marriage, he began rebuilding his influence at about the same time...
...Carter-Torrijos understanding seemed to answer the question of intervention to almost everyone's satisfaction. Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, who has not said how he stands on the treaty, described the understanding as "a very important diplomatic achievement and a big plus for the President and the treaty." Republican Senator Robert Dole, one of the pact's chief critics, called the joint statement a "step in the right direction," his most favorable remark to date...