Department of Interior, Enviromnent and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, I spoke on yesterday when I offered the amendment for the Senate's consideration. I will not speak further at this time except to say that my remarks of yesterday will be found on page S7420 of the Congressional Record.
I am very pleased that my chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the distinguished Senator from Mississippi--I say ``distinguished,'' the distinguished Senator, Mr. Cochran--I am delighted he is the chief cosponsor of the amendment. I appreciate his excellent remarks today.
I also express my deep appreciation to the distinguished gentleman--the distinguished ``gentleman''--the Senator from Virginia. And I say that with all the emphasis that word's meaning carries. He is a great Senator. He believes in the Constitution of the United States. He swore to support and defend it, and he has not forgotten his oath. He has not forgotten his oath. And he has stated it and restated it, holding his hand on the Bible and the other hand to God and all men. He has restated it several times, and he has lived up to it. I commend him.
He has been in the forefront of the effort to honor Dr. Martin Luther King with a memorial on the Mall. He has been in that forefront over a period of several years. He cosponsored, as he has pointed out, the original authorization. I am so pleased he is cosponsoring this amendment. He stood as a spectator, he said, but he later became an active participant in the history that followed on to that moment in which he was a spectator watching from the streets.
So he has become a part of history. And what I say with regard to the distinguished gentleman, the Senator from Virginia--the Virginian--I say also with equal heartfelt thanks to the distinguished Senator from Maryland, Mr. Sarbanes, who has announced he will not remain with us after next year, to my great sorrow and regret. But Senator Sarbanes has been a leader in the march toward justice for all men and women. I commend him, likewise. And I thank him for being a cosponsor of this amendment.
While I have the floor, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be added as cosponsors to the amendment: Senator Feinstein, Senator Schumer, Senator Sarbanes, Senator Boxer, Senator Harkin, and Senator Corzine.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
http://thomas.loc.gov/