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A behind-the-scenes look at the senators' meeting
January 8, 1999 WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, January 8) -- All 100 U.S. senators gathered in the old Senate chamber Friday morning for a rare, informal meeting to try to bridge the gap between dueling Republican and Democratic proposals over how the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton should go forward. They emerged ecstatic almost two hours later with a bipartisan agreement that later passed 100-0 on the Senate floor. Throughout the day senators on both sides of the aisle praised both the compromise and the process by which it was achieved. Below are the key events in the unusual caucus, pieced together from interviews with the senators:
The session's serious, courteous tone was immediately set by a "beautiful prayer" from Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and the first speaker, senior Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia). Byrd, often thought of as the Senate's historian and conscience, gave a lengthy speech on Senate history and the need to maintain comity. Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Michigan) credited Byrd's words as the principal reason for a breakthrough. Stressing the importance of protecting the Senate as an institution, Byrd recounted Chaucer's "Pardoner's Tale," a "united-we-stand, divided-we-all-fall" allegory. According to Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), Byrd was critical of House and White House efforts during the impeachment process, suggesting "that the president has sullied that institution and the House has tarnished theirs, and the Senate couldn't afford to do the same." The speech was characterized as eloquent, though also as lengthy and a bit rambling. As he spoke some senators checked their watches, anxious to get beyond historic anecdotes -- such as caning on the Senate floor in the 19th century -- and get down to business.
And they did, but the real breakthrough did not come until the end of the meeting when Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) spoke. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) summarized Gramm's speech this way: "He said there's nothing we could adopt that would preclude the calling of witnesses. Under the rules, any senator can make a motion to call a witnesses." It would take a two-thirds vote to change those rules. McConnell said smiles broke out as Gramm spoke. Afterwards, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) rose to agree with the Texas Republican's point. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott then joked, "We'll call it the Kennedy-Gramm proposal," alluding to the two lawmakers' sharp ideological differences on most other issues. The meeting ended with Lott saying, "Time is running out -- can we agree on it?" Then Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) said, "Yes, I'm just thinking out loud, but what about providing some sort of safeguard for witnesses?" Daschle's suggestion was met with applause and the idea of a panel of four senators to decide on witnesses was proposed.
Members of the majority and minority alike were pleased they were able to come to a bipartisan resolution. Sen. Connie Mack (R-Florida) said, "What I had hoped would happen, happened; it was a recognition that we weren't that far apart." Some credit for achieving an agreement also has to go to Lott and Daschle, according to Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tennessee). "Sen. Byrd set a very high tone and both the leaders did too. The leaders set the tone; it was very eloquent and very bipartisan," Thompson said. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) said the surroundings also contributed to the solemnity and the members' success. "I commended Lott for choosing the old Senate chamber," Dodd said. "Being in the room, conscious of it, there are really models of things that happened in this room to show us the importance of this. In 1856 Charles Sumner was caned in this room because he accused someone of an illicit affair. This caning lead to the degradation of the Senate, and the start of the Civil War." CNN's Jonathan Karl, Mike Roselli, Dana Bash and Marty Kramer contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Friday January 8, 1999
• Senate moves forward on impeachment trial • Poll: Bush, Dole lead Gore in 2000 race • Alexander explores bid for 2000 GOP nomination • Tripp seeks donations to legal fund • New efforts to revive HMO legislation • A behind-the-scenes look at the senators' meeting • Andrew Cuomo decides against a N.Y. Senate run • Democratic senators want all impeachment proceedings to be public • Text of Senate trial plan resolution • Clinton touting economic success far from impeachment drama • Former Lewinsky boyfriend divorcing • Gore, 48 current senators voted to convict impeached judge over grand jury lies • Clinton urged to deny spy clemency • Administration proposes tax relief for steel companies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
