04/03/05

After 46 years in the U.S. Senate -- including a 12-year stint as Democratic leader -- Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia sees himself as its protector and defender, a guardian of its history and traditions. A co-author of a four-volume tome of Senate history, Byrd, 87, comes to work each day with a tiny leather-bound copy of the Constitution in his left breast pocket. 'I've forgotten more about the rules and procedures than most senators will ever know,' he said last week. When lawmakers resume work Monday, the Senate is headed for a showdown over a Republican-led drive to end the minority Democrats' use of the filibuster in blocking President Bush's judicial nominees...

http://tinyurl.com/3oy5e

from Houston Chronicle


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp