A Different Kind of Senate Debate

Before I get into the substantive work of the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments under Birch Bayh, I want to start by making a point about the style and format on those hearings.

A congressional hearing typically involves members asking witnesses questions. The witnesses are experts or advocates on the relevant topic. While the Bayh Subcommittee did this sometimes, in many cases the witnesses were other Senators. They were either presenting or commenting on a proposed amendment. This meant that Senators were asking questions to and, in effect, debating other Senators. But this was unlike a stereotypical debate on the Senate floor. There was more detail and more nuance. I'm unsure what conclusion to draw from this, but the quality of these constitutional discussions was extremely high.

Another observation is that the non-Senate witnesses were a Who's Who of American law and politics in that era. Some were already famous, such as Richard Nixon, Richard J. Daley, or Gloria Steinem. Others were up-and-comers like William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and RBG. There is so much to explore