June 16, 1977
Page19483
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I am having copies of the amendment printed so that all Senators may read what the amendment I have offered says.
Mr. MUSKIE. Will the Senator yield?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes.
Mr. MUSKIE As I understand the amendment of the Senator from Kansas it is a sense of the Senate resolution and is no more binding in any way than that of the Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. It is not binding. It has no legal effect whatsoever.
Mr. MUSKIE. It is just a question of how we phrase the Senate sense so that it covers the ground broadly and yet with some sensitivity to the issue. Every Senator could have his own preference as to the language. If this debate were to continue long enough, I am sure the Senator from Maine could phrase a sense of the Senate resolution which would accomplish the same element as that of the Senator from Kansas, the same element as that of the Senator from West Virginia, and we would all be saying the same thing but in our own way. Frankly, this argument of the Senator from Kansas and the Senator from Virginia, that the amendment says nothing, is a criticism of their own formula, which says nothing but what their sense tells them.
Mr. SCOTT. Why not pass both amendments? [laughter.]
Mr. MUSKIE. One is sufficient. There has already been too much talk on the subject as it is.