Byrd Soars On Gusts Of Rhetoric -- Crafty Veteran Pushes Clinton's Economic Bill

WASHINGTON - Robert Byrd, the crafty and theatrical chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been at the center of the fight over President Clinton's proposal to spend $16.3 billion to stimulate the economy this year.

As floor manager for the Clinton legislation, Byrd has confronted hostile Republicans and reluctant Democrats with moves that confirmed his reputation as a master of parliamentary finagling and oratory.

INFURIATING TACTICS

His rhetoric has entertained, but his tactics have infuriated minority Republicans who are threatening to delay Clinton's bill with a filibuster.

Almost single-handedly, Byrd has used his detailed knowledge of the Senate rules to shepherd Clinton's economic-stimulus package through the mine-filled territory of the Senate. Using Senate rules to do a maneuver called "filling up the amendment tree," Byrd has all but precluded major modifications to Clinton's $16 billion package.

"It's been a vintage performance by the senator from West Virginia," said Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, the Republican whip, who is a renowned rhetorician. "I disagree with his tactics but respect his grandiloquence."

Byrd was courted carefully by Clinton. Only last week, the two had a private meeting at the White House in which Byrd unveiled his strategy for moving Clinton's package through the Senate. Those who were familiar with the meeting say it was Byrd's idea to put himself on the line for the new president.

Even Senate leaders didn't know what Byrd was up to, according to knowledgeable senators. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, and Majority Whip Wendell Ford, D-Ky., were reduced almost to onlookers as Byrd held sway on the floor.

Republicans in the Senate have been stymied by Byrd's maneuvers, as have conservative Democrats who wanted to amend Clinton's package.

KILLED GOP AMENDMENT

Yesterday, Senate Democrats erased an embarrassing setback and killed, 52-46, a Republican amendment to the stimulus package that would have trimmed the jobs and mass-transit measure. Late Monday, the Senate had given preliminary approval to the GOP amendment.

But once again, Byrd's maneuvering saved Clinton, as the senior West Virginian used parliamentary procedure to ensure another vote on the amendment - and Democrats rounded up senators who were absent for the first vote.

Republicans could still block passage of Clinton's bill with their 43 votes because it takes 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to shut off debate and end a filibuster.

But the purgatory of prolonged debate is heaven for Byrd, whose flights of rhetoric sometimes seem more suited for a toga than his tailored suits.

Nothing pleases Byrd, the Senate's unchallenged parliamentary scholar, more than standing on the floor of his beloved Senate and offering lessons from the past - all the way back to the Athenian democrats and Roman patricians.

He uses such musings to congratulate his allies, conquer his enemies or chide errant colleagues.

During the debate on Clinton's bill, Byrd has held the floor for hours, invoking heroes from the Roman senator Gaius Gracchus to his "little dog, Billy," to lecture foe and friend alike on the values of philosophical conviction and partisan loyalty.

`PLAYS BY THE RULES'

"This senator plays by the rules," Byrd said, speaking on the floor last Thursday. "Most senators I have found . . . do not pay much attention to the rules. That is dry stuff. It does not get headlines. Who wants to bother with reading an old rule book? Who wants to bother reading that book on Senate procedure? Let someone else do that."

Some disgruntled senators think Byrd just wants it his way, but even they grudgingly admit he is skillful.

"We are allowing Senator Byrd - after we decide whether we want an amendment - to decide whether he wants an amendment," grumped Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas. "God didn't say we can't offer amendments. Only Robert C. Byrd has. And there's a difference."