Original subtitles

The picture you're about to see

is dedicated as a loving tribute

to that special breed of human being who,

from the beginning, has been the backbone and wonder

of that spirit that was to become the American Dream.

The individual who would stand up and fight

for what he believes is right,

no matter how overwhelming the odds.

The story takes place in our nation's capital,

when certain isolated groups of people

were beginning to ask for a freeze on the building

of nuclear plants, and the stockpiling

of nuclear weapons.

About six months before our story begins,

Congress had appointed a committee under the chairmanship

of Senator Sam Foley

to investigate the allegations of these groups,

that through campaign contributions

and lucrative construction contracts,

the nuclear industry had actually gained control

over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

and the governmental agencies that were supposed to police it.

As our picture opens, Senator Foley,

after months of closed sessions,

without warning, abruptly cancels the hearing,

and, in an unusual move,

mysteriously seals all the information

uncovered during the investigation

as classified top secret.

And then quietly gives the green light

for the continued development of nuclear plants

and nuclear weapons.

Well, I I'll take your questions one at a time,

to make it manageable. Senator, I've been hearing

that you didn't actually want these hearings cancelled.

Is there someone who's been ordering these

hearings canceled?

You know better that that, Joe.

With so many deaths that have been reported, the public

That's true.

beginning to suspect a cover-up.

Senator, if your committee, which is supposed to police

nuclear safety, is cancelled, who gonna do the policing?

I My announcement stands.

Now, I see no point in any further responses.

No more questions.

Is something wrong, sir?

He's sick.

Get a doctor here! Please, clear the aisles.

I'm gonna call a doctor.

Give me the urgent desk, please.

Pardon me. Pardon me. Are you Senator Foley's aide?

She is.

Okay. Here's his briefcase and all his papers.

Oh. I'll give 'em to her. Okay, thank you.

I'm gonna go call his wife. Okay, honey. Be right there.

Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I'll get it. That's all right.

I'm really sorry. I know that.

Bye-bye.

Yes, operator. I want to make a person-to-person call

to Governor Hubert Hopper, and bill it to my office number.

This is Senator Joseph Payne.

Hello.

You're kidding.

I know it couldn't have come at a worse time.

Call Bailey, tell him I'm taking the next flight home.

What is it, Hubert?

Sam Foley died.

Thank you.

I don't even understand the question.

Just go back and tell them

I don't even know what they want from me anymore.

Do you have Foley's nuclear file? That's all I'm asking.

I tell you on Saturday they come after you.

Try to take an afternoon off,

can't even play a game of tennis.

What was that all about?

Well, some clown from the justice department.

He's asking me if I've got any of that material

that Foley's committee had on the nuclear contracts.

Do you? No!

I don't know what ever happened to any of that stuff.

I do.

What?

I have it.

What?

That, honey, is our ticket up.

Dan, are you crazy?

Come on, we need a fourth.

Great idea!

Come on, it's only your husband.

You've been here all day.

Come on. Please.

Let's go. Come on, you need it.

Come on, come on, come on.

I'm coming. I'm up, I'm up.

Don't forget your racquet.

Hey, I'll tell you about it later, ok?

I love you.

McGhan, go in there and tell Bailey

that I've got to give them an answer.

Why don't you tell him, Hubie?

I mean after all, it's your office.

All right,

All right, I will.

My concern is with this Willet Creek nuclear plant on the fire.

Well, what's wrong with it? It's ready to roll, isn't it?

Oh, yeah, it's attached as a rider

where no one will notice it.

Then what are you worried about?

Nothing, unless the man we appoint as senator

begins to ask questions.

I mean, unless you're absolutely sure of him.

It might be better to postpone the nuclear plant

until the next session of Congress.

No, Joe, it's just not possible to postpone.

Now we'll just have to appoint somebody we can trust.

Now, wait a minute, someone we can trust?

Well, who did you think we'd appoint,

the chairperson of a feminist league?

Well, there you go again, Jim.

Is that all you're ever concerned about is Washington?

Don't you guys ever think about my problems

down here in the state?

You're panicking, Hubert!

In my judgment, the simplest thing to do

is to slip this thing through just the way it's going

and get it over with, don't you agree Joe?

Absolutely. But we have to be sure

the man we pick will go along.

Judge Miller.

Miller? Oh, for God's sakes, come on, will ya?

Horace Miller. It's a good idea.

I mean, he was a reliable guy before we put him on the bench,

he's a reliable guy now that he's on the bench.

Now, what have you got against him, Hubie?

I mean he's exactly what you want.

He's got class, dignity, he's always kept his skirts clean.

You forgot one little thing Jim.

Those people out there won't stand for it, not for a minute!

We've given you your man. Just make the announcement.

I won't do it.

Look, I can't just go out there and give them an ultimatum.

I've got to make them feel like they have a voice!

How about if we work for some harmony here, gentlemen, huh?

What do you say? A little harmony?

Horace Miller.

Billy Jack?

A half-breed Indian nut?

An ex-convict. He's not even eligible.

He is now. I've already granted him a full pardon,

restored all of his rights, enabling him to be appointed.

And you have also buried yourself, Hubert!

Governor, that's the most stupid political stunt

anyone's ever tried to pull on Bailey.

Jim! Jim, you want to hear me out?

Jim, listen to me for a minute!

Look, Jim, it's only for two short months.

Now, even if he takes the appointment,

he'd never run for re-election,

and he'd never make it if he did run.

The man is so disinterested in everything political,

he probably wouldn't even show up in the Senate.

And look, by appointing him,

overnight our party gets a whole new image.

You know, we get the human righters, the environmentalists,

the Indians, the blacks, the Chicanos,

all those who feel left out.

We get the youth vote.

Now, all that rubs off on us for the next election,

and in two months he's replaced.

Now you tell me, what the hell's wrong with that?

Makes a lot of sense, Mr. Bailey.

It's very clever.

We can really use that to create the image of the party

that's bringing everybody together.

That's real middle-of-the-road America stuff.

And it fits in perfectly with your campaign

of Joe Payne, man of the people.

It's still a risk.

Okay, all right.

But don't let that dumb cowboy

Ah-ah! Indian.

Cowboy, Indian, whatever!

Don't let him open an eye, an ear,

or more important, his mouth.

Ah, Grandfather

what do we know of Washington,

let alone the dirty world of politics?

Maybe that's why you should go. As a test.

Politics has its own kind of violence.

But how can I even think of changing things out there

when I have so much work to do in changing myself, in here?

If you want to become a whole person,

you must first try to make society better.

Before you have a right to turn your back on it.

I don't think that I could do it away from here,

though, Grandfather.

I mean, the Canyon Lady is all my strength now.

Then pray to her at sunrise.

If you ask her spirits to guide and purify you,

dedicate your work to her, and do the best you can,

then your work will be your prayer,

and the results need not concern you.

You know that classified material Senator Foley

was waving around before he had his heart attack?

I have it.

A lot of people wondering what happened to that stuff.

I can leak it, or I can trade it.

Well, what do you have in mind?

A White House level appointment, and a salary of say, $48,000.

You play dangerous games, Dan.

Gary, I'm not playing game;

You get back to me within 72 hours,

or I'll have to leak this thing to the Post.

Or maybe I'll give it to some crusading young senator

who needs the publicity.

Well, all I can do is make a report.

And in that spirit, we have gathered here tonight to

acclaim and to bid Godspeed to the newest, and maybe in time,

the best senator our state has ever seen, Billy Jack.

Thank you, Governor, and, ladies and gentlemen,

I don't think we need two men in Washington

when we have a senator like Joseph Payne representing us.

He probably doesn't remember me,

but you see, ah, he knew my uncle very well.

William Trotter was the name

they put on him in the Christian school.

Man of the Bear was his Indian name.

Well, Senator Payne and my uncle worked together

on the restoration of that Indian land

up around Green Lake years ago,

and well, ah, I remember that my uncle told me that Joseph Payne

was the finest man that he had ever known.

Billy, you're so much like your uncle.

Oh, well, thank you.

When I look at you, I can almost see him sitting behind

that roll top desk, with his hat on, getting out his newspaper.

He said he always kept the hat on

so he'd be ready to do battle.

William Trotter Man of the Bear

editor, publisher, and champion of lost causes.

Yeah, he always said the only causes worth fighting for

were the lost causes.

You don't need to tell me.

We were a team, the two of us.

Struggling Indian out of journalism school,

struggling lawyer.

They used to call us the twin champions of lost causes,

and we took on plenty.

You might call us the first of the store-front law centers.

We didn't have much to eat,

but we sure had plenty of lost causes.

It was before your time.

Yeah, but our people still talk of those battles.

His last fight was his best, Billy.

He and that four page newspaper against the mining syndicate

that had come to strip mine the land, just like that Black Mesa.

Steal the reservations, pollute the air,

and rape the sacred hill.

Ah, they tried everything bribery, intimidation.

And then.

What happened?

They found him slumped over his desk one morning.

Shot in the back.

When I got there, I could still see him

sitting at that roll top desk.

Still with his hat on.

Still with his hat on.

Come in

Am I interrupting?

Oh, come in, Saunders.

Sit down, sit down.

Now, what's all this about you're wanting to quit?

Look, Senator, I wasn't given a brain

just to tell some nature boy what time it is.

I'm not a registered nurse.

Sam Foley couldn't get along without you,

and neither can I at the moment.

Five minutes, Senator.

You've got to get to the floor.

I'll be right there,

and get that foreign relations material ready, will you?

It's right there at your fingertips, all of it.

Now look, Saunders, I haven't got time to go into all this,

but Foley told me wild horses

couldn't pull confidential material out of you.

I'm an old hand at following instructions, Senator.

I need someone who can be trusted to occupy Billy Jack

and keep him out of trouble.

Oh, but, Senator, I just, I won't do that.

But, Saunders, you too smart a girl to do anything foolish.

Now if certain things happen to me,

I'm taking everybody up with me.

Sir, when I first got to this city,

my eyes were big green question marks.

Now they're big green dollar marks.

All right.

You finish this job properly,

keep him away from anything that smells of politics,

and not only will you receive a very handsome bonus,

but one of the best jobs in Washington.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much, Senator.

Oh, Senator, does the smell of politics

include the Willet Creek Nuclear Reactor?

If you're speaking of the deficiency bill,

especially that.

Senator, good morning.

We were a little curious

how you'd be voting on the energy bill.

Oh, ah, I'll be voting no on the energy bill.

I see. Is this the way Senator Payne advised you to vote?

Senator Payne is also voting no, is that what you mean?

Yes, thank you.

To my mind, I can think of nothing more pressing,

in view of the depletion of our resources

and the advanced inadequacy of our technology

to magically solve our problems as we have supposed.

And in view of the imminent possibility

of our running out of energy of all kinds,

I urge immediate passage

of the gentleman from Colorado's bill.

Pardon me, Senator, but either I'm hearing things,

or I actually heard you

just urging passage of the energy bill.

That's right.

Well, sir, I just told the press outside

that both of us were voting no.

I am voting no.

I'm sorry. Now I don't understand.

You see, half the people back home

wanted a speech urging passage of the bill,

and the other half wanted us to vote no.

This way, everybody's happy.

In order to get the vital issues taken care of,

you've got to sugar coat the rest

so there's a little something for everybody.

But, sir, this is a vital issue.

Exactly. It's much too sensitive

to ever come up for a vote.

It will be referred back to committee

where it'll be buried.

You'll get used to it.

Ah, Joe, I'd like to work out a little trade

on my cotton subsidy bill.

Frankly, Senator, I think I made a mistake

when I accepted this appointment.

No, wait a minute.

Didn't you say something about a national children's camp?

Now, I assume you were in earnest about that?

Well, yes, very much so.

Well, there.

I've got a job for both of you.

Why don't you put a bill together

to accomplish that and present it to Congress?

Now, that'd be a great experience for Billy,

and for you as a legislative aide.

You know, if we could do just

that one thing while we're here

I mean, if we could make that children's camp

become a reality.

Well, what's to stop you?

Saunders will help you with it.

There isn't anyone on the Hill

smarter than Saunders about Senate procedure.

You know, this whole business of politics is a kind of art

a hand-me-down from one generation

to the next art at that.

Guards, halt.

Well?

It's all been arranged.

White House or State Department?

Junior executive level for six months, then it's up to you.

When will the appointment come?

30 days after delivery.

How will they know the delivery is all that you have?

You wouldn't hold back any hidden copies from me,

would you, Dan?

Hey! Come on.

How long have we known each other?

You have my word.

What do you mean, the head man's writing a bill?

He's a senator, isn't he?

Wants to work all night.

Honey, you know Foley's classified files?

Does anyone besides me know you've got that?

Hey, Honey, not now.

We'll talk about it later, okay?

Don't work too hard.

And have a good time.

You have any idea what it takes

to get a bill passed through Congress?

I haven't the vaguest idea

what it takes to get a bill passed,

but Payne said you're an expert.

Just tell us, what do we have to do?

Let's pretend its tomorrow and your bill is ready.

You just take it on over to the honorable Senate

and you introduce it.

How?

You get to your feet and take a deep breath,

and you start spouting.

Then a curly-haired page will take it down to a desk

where a long-faced clerk will read it

and refer it to the right committee.

Why a committee?

Because that's how Congress

or any other large body has to be run.

All your work has to be done through committees.

Yeah, but why?

You can't just take a bill

no one's ever heard of before

and discuss it among 100 men,

most of whom aren't there anyway

because they're off on campaigns or committees.

Anyway, where are we?

We're in committee. In committee, right.

All right, well they hand it down to a sub-committee.

And then they really give it a going over.

They hold hearings, they call in people, they ask questions.

Now, days are going by, Senator. Days, weeks maybe.

All right, say finally after all that,

they think it's quite a bill.

It goes on over to the House of Representatives

for a debate and a vote.

Only it has to wait its turn on the calendar.

A calendar?

Calendar. You know, the order of business.

Anyway, your bill has to wait way back there in line,

unless you know somebody on a steering committee

and you can get them to think

What is that? What?

A steering committee.

It's a committee of majority party leaders,

and they decide whether a bill is important enough

to be moved up to the head of the list.

I betcha we could get Payne to help.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah, he'll be a big help.

Oh, okay, where are we?

We're in the House.

Ah, House makes more changes, and more amendments,

and they send it back over to the Senate.

The Senate doesn't like what the House did to the bill,

so they make more changes.

And then the House doesn't like those changes, so it's stymied.

So they have to call in a man from both houses,

and they go into a huddle, called a conference,

and they battle it out.

Now, in the meantime, all the lobbyists interested

are holding cocktail parties for and against the bill,

and unmarked envelopes are being generously supplied with cash

and passed out to all the swing votes.

Anyway, after all this vivisection,

it begins to be traded.

That means that somebody can trade off a portion

in their bill

if you'll trade off a portion in your bill

and make everybody happy.

And after all this, the bill finally comes to a vote.

Oh, yeah, the big day finally comes, and Congress adjourns.

You catching on, Senator?

Sort of.

Well

When do we start?

What?

Senator, do you think we could get on

with the particulars now?

Four hundred acres, you say?

Where's it gonna be located?

Situated in Ambrose County, Kerry Canyon,

right at the fork on the river,

about a mile and half upstream on Willett Creek.

Where? Willett Creek.

It's just where the stream rolls down into the river.

In Kerry Canyon?

Yeah, why? Do you know about it?

Have you ever been out there?

No, no, I haven't.

Have you discussed this exact location with Senator Payne?

No, not the exact location.

Why?

No reason. No reason.

Four hundred acres, either side of Willett Creek.

So, dragging me up to the Hill at this hour,

this really better be good.

I don't know if it's gonna be good,

but it's certainly gonna be interesting.

You know, for a guy who's supposed to have been so brave,

I've never seen anybody more nervous

about getting up and reading a bill.

By the way, honey,

do you know where the keys to the safe deposit box are?

Yeah, but why? Don't you?

Oh, sure.

What'd ya ask for?

Just checking.

Come on.

Sit tight, fellas, the show is about to begin.

What show?

Would you tell us what's happening?

Certainly. If you look right down there,

you'll see the principle actor in our little drama,

Don Quixote with the bill.

And over there, a very important supporting character, Mr. Clean.

Mr. Clean? McGann.

You mean Bailey's deep throat?

The same.

And right below you is the co-star, our man of the people.

Soul of honor, on a tightrope.

Bill all set? Oh, yes, Senator.

Got it here.

Good luck. Thank you, sir.

Saunders, what part do we play?

Oh, anything you like

shortstop, center field, whatever.

What are you good at?

You'll have to excuse her, people.

She's a little freaked out. No, darling.

Listen, in a couple of minutes,

Don Quixote over there with the bill

is going to stand up and repeat two very important words

Willett Creek.

When that happens, our man of the people

will fall right off of his tightrope,

and Mr. Clean over there will disappear in a white tornado.

Dan, what are those kids supplying her with?

Should we give her a blood test or something?

Why, do you think she's pregnant?

That's not exactly what I had in mind.

I'm sorry. Are you?

I don't really think that's even funny.

Well, I'm just asking.

Or asking her. Excuse me.

There's ways. Well are you?

No. All right.

Introduction of bills and joint resolutions.

Ah, sir!

The chair recognizes

the rather strong-lunged junior senator, Jack.

Mr. President, I have here a bill

that I would like to introduce to the Senate.

You may speak louder, Senator.

I said that I have a bill here, sir,

that I would like to, uh, introduce here to the

to the Senate.

Order in the gallery.

Our junior senator is about to make a speech.

I am sending to the desk, Mr. President,

for appropriate reference,

a bill that would result in the appropriation

of a sufficient sum

to establish a national youth camp,

the money of which would be paid

back to the United States Treasury

by fundraising activities

done on a voluntary basis by youth all over America.

You see, this camp would be situated on, and adjacent to,

a stream known back in my state

as Willett Creek in Kerry Canyon.

And it would be for the purpose of bringing together children

from all walks of life who have been impoverished,

deprived, and abused, and they would come

Listen Joe, I'm getting leery of this guy.

Everyone keeps calling him dumb,

but we forget he's a West Point graduate,

and when he finds out there's a nuclear plant going up

where he wants to build that kids' camp,

he's going to start asking questions six ways from Sunday.

Quiet, Chick, I want to think.

How could Saunders let him pick Willett Creek?

No, I'm sure Saunders had nothing to do with picking

the location.

The important thing is the deficiency bill

is going to be read in the Senate tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Joe?

He'll hear that section on the nuclear plant.

He can't be there tomorrow.

I know that. Get a hold of yourself.

I'm in over my head. I'm calling Bailey.

You'll do nothing of the kind.

Bailey's methods wouldn't work in a situation like this.

He'd come in with a bulldozer.

Get Saunders over to my office as soon as you can.

Convention?

What kind of convention are you talking about?

I'm not really clear on it, Senator.

It's some National Coalition of Citizen Action groups.

They've come here to try

and get a national initiative passed by the Congress.

You know, like that referendum thing

they had in California on nuclear energy.

Nuclear energy? Don't worry.

It's just a rinky-dink grass roots type of thing.

All right. Then get him over there.

Him and Jean, and those kids.

I don't want one of them anywhere near the Senate

when that deficiency bill comes up on the floor.

I can count on you, Saunders?

Anything for a bonus, Senator.

Joe, Billy Jack's little raiders are digging up

some very sensitive material on the whole nuclear program

that's making a lot of people all over the Hill very nervous.

Enough to get some pressure applied, if you need it.

No.

I don't know who your friends are, but no.

I'll handle this.

See, what this is is

these are people from all sorts of consumer advocate groups

who have found that doing their own thing

in their separate places isn't enough.

So, added to that they've kind of gotten together,

not instead of what you're doing, but in addition, right?

And, um, they've decided to put all their power together

and try to get a national initiative

for a nuclear freeze.

You gotta help me. I don't know what that is.

A national initiative?

The initiative basically means

that people can write their own laws,

and if they get enough signatures on petitions,

then it goes on the ballot for all the people to vote on.

And if fifty percent plus one of the people vote for the law,

it becomes the law of the land.

So you want this instead of a Congress?

This will be as well as a Congress.

The Congress can do their work, they can get the laws through.

They will continue the same way they are going on now

through bribery, mostly

but this will be a chance for the people

themselves to have a direct say in the government.

It costs so much now to get elected

that the Congressmen aren't any of them free.

They belong to the people who paid for their elections.

They don't belong to any of us at all.

I mean, how many times

have you heard someone complaining about something

but totally unable to do anything about it?

And besides that,

it makes government responsive to the people.

You need an alternative route.

If the Congress is bought out on an issue,

like they are on nuclear power, for example,

you need an alternative route for the people.

And when they get mad,

there should be a creative response by the people.

Think of what would have happened during 1967 and 1968,

during the Vietnam War, if the people could have gone

and petitioned and put on the ballot

a vote against the Vietnam War.

We would have ended it in 1968.

We wouldn't have had to have the demonstrations.

We wouldn't have had to have the Kent States.

Might not have had to have the war.

It's also going to influence members of Congress,

because they like to be on the right side of the issue,

and if they know that it's a very controversial issue,

and there's going to be a national initiative

if they don't take action,

they're going to be more hesitant about it.

They're going to say It's going to make me look like a fool.

They're going to be more careful.

What is it you want him to do? I don't quite understand.

Well, we'd like him to sponsor a bill in the Senate

to give people a national initiative.

Right. But he just sponsored a bill.

Isn't that what you just did?

I am. He came and marched there.

He was the ones who

What are you doing on your lunch hour?

There's a tiny little catch to this thing.

Remember before when I was introducing these people?

I was telling you about this neat picnic

that we're having, huh? Yeah.

Well, we're all invited,

but you're kind of specially invited

because in order to get people

to know about the nuclear freeze,

they're having this huge parade and rally,

and, uh, they'd just love to have a senator to be

to be the the Grand Marshall.

They would like what?

For you to be the Grand Marshall.

What fun it would be.

I mean, you could write it

under Special events in your diary.

This all of it?

As an old country boy, I'll give you a little advice.

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

You were a fool, Dan.

Please, don't.

Please, don't.

I wish there was some way we could help, Saunders.

Is there anything we can do?

Do you know anybody who had it in for him?

I mean, there must be some reason.

Come on, Billy.

This is Washington, baby.

The big leagues.

Murder is just a way of life here.

Do you really believe that?

They murder Presidents here, Billy!

They murder men who are running for President here!

They murder the Martin Luther Kings and the Jimmy Hoffas!

Lobbyists?

Lobbyists like Dan?

Small fry.

They go one a week.

It's always made to look like a heart attack,

a rape murder,

an overdose or suicide.

Ls there some way we could use

the office here to investigate it?

Oh, would you two come off your goddamned decency crap?

Do you know how much money is spent here every week?

12 billion dollars.

That's two hundred and fifty million dollars an hour,

up for grabs each and every hour.

It's all secret groups and who you know!

Cliques!

Secret groups within the secret groups!

Read this, Senator.

Senator Jack, read it.

This is the deficiency bill, Senator.

Did you hear of it?

Read it!

Check section number 40.

You know what's going up

right where you want your little camp to be?

A nuclear reactor.

Remember the name?

Nuclear reactor, Senator,

going up right where Never Never Land is supposed to be.

Did you ever read about that?

Well, of course you didn't.

They read all about it today in the Senate,

but you weren't supposed to be there.

That's why we dragged you down to that stupid convention

and bullcrapped you into thinking

we were gonna really help you get it financed.

That's why they sent you here in the first place!

Because you wouldn't know a nuclear reactor

from an erector set.

You want to be a Senator.

Why don't you just try

and mess up Mr. Bailey's little graph?

And all the other Baileys that are gonna come in here

year after year.

You can't.

Baby, you can't, not in 19 million years.

Why don't you just go home?

Go home before they kill you.

Billy you hardly gave me a chance to get dressed.

I apologize for barging in at this hour, sir,

but this is extremely important to us.

Of course, come on in.

Ah, no thank you, sir.

Well, can I get you something? Chick!

No, uh, thank you.

Uh, Senator, look, I may not know Washington

and how things operate here,

but I do know that Willett Creek district

like the back of my hand,

and tonight I was informed

that a nuclear plant is gonna go up there.

Is that what's bothering you?

I thought from the way you sounded

there was a fire somewhere.

Senator, that's right next to a big earthquake fault.

No, that's all been put through the state legislature

and approved. They had the finest seismologists

and geophysicists in the country check over that sight.

That's just the point.

There are at least a hundred places in the state

that are obviously safer.

Senator, something very strange is going on here,

and I'm sorry, but I am not going to vote on that bill

until I get a lot of questions answered.

Billy, you're jousting with windmills.

How so?

You're trying to understand in a month

everything about a project that took two years to set up.

The reasons, the surveys, the benefits

Speaking of benefits,

what does a man named Bailey have to do with all of this?

What makes you think Bailey has anything to do with it?

Senator, we heard that the whole thing was his idea.

Do you fully realize what you're saying?

You might as well accuse me of helping to frame a bill

to benefit one individual,

of helping to frame a scheme for graft.

No, no, Senator, nobody's trying to imply that,

but we do know that this Bailey has something to do with it,

and I think it's critical that we, for both of our sakes,

find out exactly what.

All right, I want everybody up.

I want to find out all about this Mr. Bailey,

and I don't mean

just his newspaper, radio, and television stations.

I want to find out how many of his companies

are making a profit on this nuclear reactor.

And I'd like to know exactly who he's paying off

here in Washington in order to get all the contracts.

Just find the secret file Foley had on him

when he had his heart attack.

Why? What does Foley's file got to do with Bailey?

We're pretty sure it contained all the names, dates,

and amounts of all the nuclear payoffs, including Bailey's.

Not to mention who's been canceling

all the nuclear hearings.

Next you guys will think Bailey can reach

all the way into the White House.

Are you kidding? This town is just one big clique,

and everybody's in bed with everybody else.

All right, then let's find out

who exactly is in bed with Mr. Bailey.

Now he wants to talk to every one of the Congressmen,

including Bill from the Willett Creek district here.

He's got all their names, their voting records.

In one month, he's got more groups out to destroy him

than any man in the history of the Senate.

Come on now, McGhan, don't be ridiculous.

If it's so ridiculous, why has the White House

already got a whole unit investigating it?

I don't see the problem.

Let the White House take care of him.

Now just a minute, Jim. This is ridiculous!

I told you I'd handle him.

I strongly object to you bringing Jim into this.

Mr. Bailey,

Senator Jack is here to see you.

Oh, fine, show him in.

Did you ask Billy Jack to come over here?

Chick.

Jim, if you bring him in here, you can count me out.

Go ahead.

Count me out.

Good morning, Senator. Mr. Bailey's expecting you.

Senator, glad you could make it.

Chick, does the senator know all the boys here?

Uh, some of them, Mr. Bailey.

Fine. You know Congressman Underwood I'm sure,

and Mr. Barkoff of the Utilities Commission.

Chick, acquaint him with the others,

and have Orlando bring him some breakfast.

Excuse me for just one moment.

Senator, this is Joe Saldo from the Interior.

Matthew Tillard of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Jim, that boy is a senator.

However it happened, he's a United States senator.

Now, we're not back home.

This is Washington, D.C.

So?

This boy is different.

Honest.

He's a decent man.

And besides, he thinks the world of me.

We can't do this to him.

Joe, some our closet friends are liable to go bankrupt

if this bill doesn't go through.

Now, I am not going to let that happen.

I don't care how much he worships you.

I won't stand for it.

You won't stand for it? That's right!

I won't have any part of crucifying that boy.

Oh, I see.

Well, maybe I can fix it

so that you and your half breed friend in there

can go back home together.

What on earth are you talking about?

Seems such a shame, after all these years,

especially with the last elections

and the party scattered.

I mean, you were shaping up to be the logical man

to build it all back together again.

It only takes 20 or 30 of us

to pull off a national convention,

you know that.

Well, I guess we're just going to have to find somebody else.

But right now, you go back in there

and explain to Mr. Jack all about Willett Creek.

Well, after all, it's your bill.

You engineered the whole thing.

Well, what do you think he's gonna do

when you tell him the whole story, huh?

Smile, roll over, and show us his belly

just because he worships you?

All right, I'll take the next plane home, Joe,

if that's what you want.

I'm just sorry it had to work out this way.

No hard feelings if I have to come after you.

Jim, it's just that I like this boy.

And

And I don't want to see you get too rough on him.

You know, you really had me worried there for a minute.

Listen, why don't you go back to your office, huh?

I'll give you a call as soon as I'm through.

No, you don't have to go back that way.

Sorry to have kept you waiting, Senator,

but I had a small domestic problem to cope with,

but since I'm in town for a couple of weeks,

I thought I'd take this opportunity

of knowing you better.

A little coffee?

No, thank you.

They tell me that you're right on your toes.

Made a lot of enemies overnight.

Well, that's fine, great.

Means your doing something.

You know a lot of people told me that you were dumb.

But somehow I think that you're smart enough

to understand a situation when it's explained to you.

Like what?

The reactor on Willett Creek.

Mm-hmm.

Just what's your interest in this reactor, Mr. Bailey?

Well, you should know the answer to that, Senator.

I mean, as chairman of the political party

and office in our state,

anything that benefits the state is of interest to me.

And, besides being a politician,

I have a lot of holdings in the state,

like newspapers and some other odds and ends.

Construction companies? Equipment companies?

Architectural firms, things like that?

I told you he was smart.

Good!

Well, let's lay out everything on the table, Billy.

If I thought that you had the welfare of the state at heart

like I do well, for example,

if you were to be cooperative about this project

instead of obstructive,

well, then I'd say you'd be a man to watch.

For instance, there's no reason

why you couldn't come back to that Senate seat

for as long a time as you wanted.

Take these gentleman here, or your idol Joe Payne.

They don't have to ever worry about being re-elected,

or anything else, for that matter,

because they take advice.

Are you trying to tell me

that you tell all of these gentlemen here

and that you tell Joe Payne what to do?

Joe Payne has been taking my advice

ever since he started running for office over 30 years ago.

You're a liar.

Billy, Washington is a very small and incestuous town.

I came here prepared for you. I give you my word on that.

If you so much as open your mouth on that Senate floor

tomorrow when that bill is read

Now that

is exactly what I think of your threat, Mr. Bailey.

Hey, have any of you guys seen Carol?

No, I think she went to the deli.

The deli at this time of night?

Who went with her?

Um, I don't think anybody went with her.

You're kidding.

Oh, cripes.

What the hell is going on out here!

Don't!

Get away from her!

Ok, who are you guys anyway?

Why are you doing this?

What do you want?

We need your clothes

off.

Looks like one of your neighborhood

welcoming committee

dropped this expensive walkie talkie back there.

They aren't neighborhood.

Uh, who who did hire you?

Ah, come on, fellas, you can tell us.

There's nobody else in the warehouse here.

FBI?

CIA street fighting team?

Or maybe Bailey.

Whose idea was it to use black agents, fellas?

Is it supposed to make it look like a racial incident?

You guys ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

I mean, Kunta Kinte would turn over in his grave

if he saw you hire out to the man like this.

You know, it's bad enough when policemen break the law

by opening people's mail, tapping telephones, but rape?

I mean, you know, the next thing is

you guys will get it in your heads to assassinate somebody.

You don't buy any of that, do ya?

No way.

Well, I guess that makes us even

because the one thing that I really can't buy

is policemen who break the law.

Hold it!

I'll tell you, friend.

Now, you really are one hard man to

Purify

Ah, Senator, and what can I do for

Oh, hello, Billy. Come on in.

Well, did you have your talk with Bailey?

I had my talk with Mr. Bailey.

He told me that he's been telling you what to do

for the past 30 years.

I called him a liar.

Listen, son, come on over here and sit down, will you?

I'm sorry. I don't feel very much like sitting down, sir.

Oh, Lord, I know how you feel.

I was hoping you'd be spared all this.

You've been living in a dream world, Billy.

The idealist sees everything as black and white,

angel and devil,

but that isn't how it goes in the real world.

It's cruel, brutal, unfair.

You don't belong here, Billy.

Forget Bailey and what he said.

Forget you ever heard of the Willett Creek reactor.

That doesn't answer my question.

Does Bailey tell you how to vote?

Now, listen, Billy. Please try to understand.

I know it's tough to run head-on into the world of facts,

but it's a question of give and take.

You've got to play by these rules.

You've got to compromise.

If one must shut his eyes that a reactor has to be built,

it's a small compromise.

The best men ever to serve in this Senate had to make deals.

You understand that?

Your Thomas Jefferson had to make one on slavery,

or the Declaration of Independence

would have never have gone out of committee.

Now, believe me, I know how you feel.

30 years ago, I had those ideals too.

I was you!

I had to make the decision you're being asked to make

today, and I made it.

I compromised.

Yes, I compromised,

so that all these years I could sit in the Senate

and serve the people in a thousand beneficial ways.

You have to make alliances with organizations

like Bailey's and the big corporations.

You have to play ball, or you can't survive.

You can't count on the people voting.

You know how many people voted in my last election?

Less than 22% of the registered voters.

All I had to do was get 11%,

and Bailey's machine can turn that out every time.

I know you're not going to decide as I did.

I can see that in your eyes.

But I told you all this because

I've grown very fond of you like a son, in fact

and I don't want to see you get hurt.

The powers here, and the Baileys,

they're ruthless, Billy.

I think you're beginning to see some of that.

You've already gone too far.

You're no longer safe here.

When that deficiency bill comes up in Senate tomorrow,

stay away.

Just stay away. It's that simple.

Please.

Just stay away.

And under previous orders,

the Senate resumes consideration

of yesterday's unfinished business,

which the clerk will read.

A bill, HR7700, providing for deficiency appropriations

for the fiscal year 1977, and for other purposes.

The bill is open to amendments.

Mr. President. Senator Jack.

Mr. President, I wish to address myself

to Section 40 of the bill.

I want specifically to talk about the nuclear plant

on Willett Creek. Mr. President!

Will the Senator yield?

Yes, yes, sir.

Mr. President, I have risen to a difficult task

to say that out of evidence that has come to my attention,

I consider Senator Jack unworthy to address this body.

Order in the Senate!

The chair will clear the gallery unless order is restored.

What in the hell is going on? I don't know.

Payne's jumping Billy Jack about something.

Proceed, sir.

I have hesitated to speak, but in all conscience I must.

It is a charge as grave as has ever been made

from this floor against a fellow member.

I refer to the bill he has presented in this chamber,

providing for his national youth camp.

Senators,

I have conclusive evidence to prove

that my colleague owns the very land

described in his bill.

He bought it the day following his appointment to the Senate,

and he is holding it, using this body

and his privileged position for his own personal profit.

Tonto had a racket? It doesn't make sense!

Accordingly, I offer a resolution

for an immediate inquiry by the select committee

on standards and conduct as to the fitness of my colleague

to continue to sit in this chamber.

Order, the committee calls Governor Hopper, please.

Governor Hopper.

Governor,

were you there the morning that Mr. Allen was present?

Ah, yes Mr. Chairman, I was present the morning

that Kenneth Allen came to the state capital,

bringing proof that Billy Jack had a deed to that campsite.

I, uh, frankly was in a state of shock.

I mean, Billy Jack of all people.

He is a hero to people all over my state.

Now, Governor, what did you do

when Mr. Allen brought this to your attention?

Ah, I had a consultation with the head of the department

of records, Mr. Arthur Kim.

Mr. Kim, do you remember recording this deed?

Yes.

On the date set forth here?

Mr. Kenneth Allen came before me to record this deed,

setting over these 400 acres in the name of Billy Jack.

Order, please.

How long have you known Senator Jack, Mr. Allen?

Oh, many, many years.

He often camped around Willett Creek.

Now, a lot of people were afraid of Billy Jack, but I liked him.

And then when he came to me with this proposition

What proposition, please, Mr. Allen?

Well, he said he had a chance to sell that leased land

for at least five thousand dollars an acre.

Me, I was happy to get five hundred dollars an acre.

So, we set it up like this: I deeded him the land,

and he gave me a contract guaranteeing me

half of what he got if he made the sale.

Well, in a way, it sounded kind of fishy at the time,

but that's the way most of these developers work.

So it wasn't until he sent me this telegram

that I realized there was some really dirty business going on.

May we see the telegram, please?

Yes. Thank you.

Urgent. Camp Bill introduced.

Senator Payne will help.

You have a deal on that land.

Contracts to follow.

Billy Jack.

Order, please.

That contract you mentioned, have you got that document?

That land wouldn't be in his name if I didn't, yes, sir.

Signed, sealed, and delivered.

Order, please.

After a long study of this signature,

it is my professional opinion that it definitely is

Billy Jack's own handwriting.

Therefore, it is my opinion as a professional,

and as an expert on handwriting,

that the signature of Billy Jack

on this contract is a forgery.

It is difficult to tell the real thing and a clever forgery,

and you'll get differing opinions from experts,

but I'd be willing to stake my 40 years in this profession

on the fact that this is not a forgery

and is the actual signature of Billy Jack.

Mr. Chairman, gentlemen

this is an excruciatingly painful duty for me.

This young boy

is the nephew of my very dearest friend.

I sponsored him in the Senate.

I helped him frame his camp bill.

And when he presented it to the Senate,

I went over to congratulate him,

but I pointed out to him that

a nuclear plant was going up on the very site

he had selected for his camp.

I said there are hundreds of equally good campsites nearby.

I suggested that he

choose another site for his camp.

He got furious.

He said Move the plant.

I had heard about his violent temper,

but I was amazed at his reaction.

He began to argue with me.

He said that Unless I get that very same site,

I will attack the Willett Creek plant.

I'll charge graft, political motives.

He would use anything he could think of to defeat it.

Well, faced with that, gentlemen

in spite of my very deep personal feelings for the boy

my sense of duty

required that his expulsion from the Senate

would be the only acceptable solution.

Senator Jack, please.

The committee is ready for your testimony now, Senator Jack.

Order! Order in this courtroom!

That's it. He's drawn and quartered.

You know, I didn't think he was guilty until this moment.

We'll get the whole thing over all the front pages.

Yeah, we'll be sending some photos for the TV coverage.

Listen, make sure you give Joe Payne a big buildup, will ya?

Yeah, sort of an Abraham sacrificing his son

for the good of the peopleď sort of thing.

Yeah, sure, they're having a hell of a time.

You'll never guess who I found.

Saunders.

And guess what she found in her safety deposit box.

All of Foley's classified material.

She's willing to come back and make a fight of it if you are.

To make a fight of what?

You mean you're gonna quit? Who's the enemy?

I don't even know who I'm supposed to be fighting.

Look, Billy, who better than you knows that

you can't reform Congress from within?

So why don't you use the filibuster

as a way to teach people

how they can get a national referendum?

Even if you lose, who cares?

You'll have taught people

how to get around a corrupt Congress.

Your quitting is sure gonna shatter a lot of hopes, though.

Well, I'm sorry about that.

But this is different. It's It's

It's just too sophisticated.

Maybe you're right.

Maybe if the only solution you have to crucial problems

is to take off your boots and kick people in the head,

maybe you just should go home.

I have sworn upon the altar of God

eternal hostility

against every form of tyranny

over the mind of man.

That we here, highly resolve

that this nation shall, under God,

have a new birth of freedom.

And that government of the people,

by the people, and for the people

shall not perish from the earth.

Senate will come to order.

Clerk will call the roll.

Well, we've got a full house today, haven't we?

Yup, they always turn out for the execution.

Hi, Ralph. Hi, Sweeney.

They expel Senator Jack today, huh?

Well, where are the drums, the guillotine?

In fact, where's Senator Jack?

I guess he hasn't stopped running

since he left that committee room.

Hey Ralph, by the way,

what are you saving the two seats for?

I don't know. Jean asked me to hold them.

Mr. Hyrim. Here.

Mr. Jack. Here!

You know, that guy is either crazy

or a glutton for punishment. Maybe both.

What's Saunders doing here? Saunders!

I thought she left What's Saunders doing in town?

Where have you been? Hi, guys.

Saunders, are you behind these shenanigans?

Me? What shenanigans?

Mr. Zimmerman. Here.

The quorum is present.

Mr. President? Senator Brighton?

Mr. President, on behalf of the select committee

on standards and conduct,

I send to the desk a report of that committee

on the investigation of Senator Billy Jack

as unanimously directed by the committee.

I also report an original resolution

for the senator's expulsion, which I ask to be read.

Without objection?

So ordered.

Whereas it has been shown, by the investigation

of the Select Committee of Standards and Conduct,

that Senator Billy Jack, as United States Senator,

did engage in a course of unethical conduct

calculated to benefit his own personal and financial worth,

and whereas such conduct derogates from the public trust

expected of a senator, and brings the Senate

into contumely disrepute and dishonor,

resolved that it is the judgment of the Senate

that Senator Billy Jack be, and hereby is,

expelled from the United States Senate.

Mr. President, I move the immediate adoption

of the resolution and ask for all the yays and nays.

Stand up! Mr. President!

Mr. President, I have the floor,

and am about to ask for a roll call

on the passing of this resolution

without any further delay.

Mr. President, I believe I addressed the chair first, sir.

The Senator can say nothing at this time

that would not be in bad grace, sir.

Senator Jack is still a member of this body

and as such, has equal claim to the attention of this chair.

You were about to recognize me, sir.

That is merely your assumption, Senator.

Let him speak!

Before I proceed further, I would like to say

to the visitors that they are here as our guests,

and they should conduct themselves as such,

and we might add that such crudely-voiced sentiments

will in no way affect the judgment of this chair.

The chair recognizes Senator Jack.

Thank you sir.

Hold on to your hat, Jean, here we go.

Well, gentlemen, I guess you're in a pretty tall hurry

to get me out of here,

and from the way the evidence is piled up against me,

I can't say that I blame you much.

And I'm perfectly willing to go, Mr. President,

as soon as this group has legally voted that way,

but before I go,

there are some things that I want to say to this body.

Mr. President, will the senator yield?

No!

No, Senator, I will not yield.

Now, I yielded once before, and if you'll recall,

I ended up being splattered

across the headline of every newspaper in this country

and was practically never heard of again.

And incidentally, gentlemen,

we might as well all get together

on this yielding business right now.

You see, I had some pretty good coaching last night,

and I found out that if I yield only for a personal privilege,

a point of order, or a question,

I can hold this floor till doomsday,

or at least as long as I can stand on my own two feet.

In other words, Mr. President,

I have a piece to speak, and come hell or high water,

I am going to stand on this floor and speak it.

Mr. President, will the senator yield?

Will Senator Jack yield? Yield how?

Will he yield for a question?

For a question, yes, for a question.

I wish to ask my junior colleague,

this piece he intends to speak,

does it concern Section 40 of the bill?

It does. Every aspect of this matter

was dealt with during the committee hearings.

Mr. President I wish to ask

my distinguished colleague, has he one scrap of evidence

to add now to the defense, that he did not give

and could not give during that same hearing?

There are no defenses against forged papers,

and you know it, Senator Payne.

The committee ruled otherwise!

The gentleman stands guilty as charged.

I stand guilty as framed!

I believe I speak for every member present

when I say that no one cares to hear

what a man of his condemned character has to say

about any section of any legislation

before this house!

Mr. President, I was guilty as framed!

And I was framed because I was going to stand up here and tell

that Section 40 is nothing but a nuclear ripoff!

I was going to stand in this chamber

and tell about a certain James Bailey back in my state,

who wanted to put that plant through

for his own personal profit.

Mr. President, will the senator yield?

No, I will not yield!

Now this same James Bailey

promised me a seat in this chair for the next 20 years

if I went along and voted for something that he knew

and I knew was a fraud on the American people.

And he also told me

that if I dared to stand up in this chamber

and oppose that nuclear plant, he would break me in two.

All right. All right, Mr. President,

I stood up the other day,

and I tried to address myself to Section 40,

and the long arm of Mr. Bailey

reached into this sacred chamber,

and he grabbed me by the back of the neck!

Mr. President Mr. President! A point of order.

Mr. President, do I have the floor?

Senator Payne will state it.

It was I who rose in this chamber to accuse him.

He is claiming that I was carrying out criminal orders

and falsified evidence.

He has imputed to me conduct unworthy of a senator,

and I demand that he be made to yield the floor.

Mr. President, I did not say

that Senator Payne was in that room!

But I was in that room!

Order!

I accuse this man by his tone,

by his careful denials of deliberately trying to plant

damaging impressions of my conduct.

I'll tell you why because Mr. Bailey,

a respected citizen of our state,

had brought with him the evidence against this man,

and we were urging Billy Jack to resign.

Why? To avoid bringing disgrace

upon a clean and honorable state,

and upon this body.

But Senator Jack refused.

He threatened to bring that very disgrace

down upon the state and all of us present

if we refused to let him go through

with this contemptible scheme.

Mr. President Finally

Mr. President, do I have the floor?

there was only one way to answer this man.

The truth, which I rose and gave to this body.

Mr. President, he is trying to blackmail the Senate,

just as he tried to blackmail me.

To prevent his expulsion, he would probably even try

to hold up the deficiency bill,

vital to the entire country,

with this contemptible scheme.

Do I have the floor?

Gentlemen, I have lost patience with this gentleman!

I am sick and tired of this contemptible young man.

I apologize to this body for his appointment.

I regret I ever knew him,

and I refuse to stay and listen to him any longer.

And I hope every member of this chamber feels as I do.

Senators will be in order!

Senators will address the chair.

Mr. President! Senator Warner.

Mr. President, what does the gentleman want of this body?

I'll tell you what I want.

I want one week, just one week

to bring proof of the charges into this chamber

that I brought against Mr. Bailey.

And I want the Senate to promise me

that they will not pass the deficiency bill

for that one week.

Will the senator yield?

For a question only.

Has the senator the effrontery to stand there,

convicted and in disgrace,

and try to force the postponement

of this deficiency bill?

For one lousy week!

Mr. President, I appeal to the senator.

Is he fully aware that this bill

has been months in both houses,

delayed and delayed

Mr. President, if the Senate yields

to this kind of blackmail at this time, from this man,

whatever credibility this body has left

will be totally destroyed.

Mr. President, it is an insult to this body

to have to listen.

An insult to our colleague Senator Payne.

And I, for one, will follow the senator's example

and refuse to remain in this chamber

as long as that man holds the floor.

Senator Jack.

Looks like I'm just going to have to present my case

from this floor, Mr. President

that is, if you ladies and gentlemen of the press

will carry my remarks accurately.

In other words, sir, wild horses are not going

to drag me off of this floor

until I've at least had the opportunity

to present my evidence to the people of my state,

and I don't care if that takes me

for the rest of this year.

Filibuster!

Filibuster!

Joe, get this. Billy Jack on the floor,

just as they were ready to throw him out,

and he's holding it!

Filibuster. Billy Jack is filibustering the Senate.

Listen, you've got to get me everything he's saying

to the networks, okay?

Consider it done. Thanks.

When they read my story.

Oh, Ralph. Saunders, I promise you,

they're gonna hear about this in Patagonia!

They'd better!

The entire Senate got up and walked out!

Oh, Ralph, come on, that's straight stuff.

You've gotta kick it up a little bit, get on his side.

Fight for him, huh?

You guys understand what this is all about, please.

Joe, scratch all that and take this.

The most titanic battle of modern times

has broken out in Washington.

A new young David, without a slingshot,

has risen to do battle on the Senate floor

with not one mighty Goliath but many.

Oh, Ralph, I love you.

That they are endowed with certain inalienable rights,

and among them are life, liberty,

and the pursuit of happiness.

Uh, uh, Mr. President

Mr. President, we seem to be alone, sir.

Now, I'm not complaining for social reasons,

but, uh, I think it would be a shame

if these gentlemen miss the evidence

that I would like to present,

so I would like to call your attention

to the standing rules of the Senate.

Uh, rule 5, section

section 3.

Sir, it says, and I'm quoting now,

if a quorum shall not be found to be present,

then a majority of the senators present

may direct the sergeant of arms to request,

and if necessary to compel,

the attendance of the absent senators.

Unquote.

Uh, Mr. President, I guess it looks like I am the majority,

so I so compel.

Well, in the absence of a quorum, being suggested,

clerk will call the role.

Now where the hell is that long distance call?

We're trying to get it.

Will you do me a favor and get more direct lines out of here?

Chick, have you got hold of Hendrix?

They're looking for him.

Looking for him?

Now, look, why the hell isn't an editor

at his desk where he belongs?

Joe.

Joe, why aren't you on the Senate floor?

Jim, that boy is talking to the state now,

the whole country.

The story is out. So what?

The fight is out in the open, that's all.

That's what I mean.

If he can turn public opinion against us,

if any part of this sticks

at his desk where he belongs?

I'll make public opinion out there in five hours.

I've done it all my life.

Now look, will you leave public opinion to me, Joe?

Now go on, get back to the Senate there

and keep those honorable gentlemen in line.

Jim, I hit him from the floor with everything I know.

I don't have the stomach for it anymore.

Now you listen to me, Joe.

If he starts to convince those senators,

you might just as well blow your brains out,

because this is it, the whole works.

We've got to smash that guy and bury him.

Jim, Hendrix on line 4.

Go on back to the Senate, Joe.

Go on.

Now where the hell have you been?

All right, never mind.

Look, I want you to line up every newspaper, TV,

and radio station in the state.

I want you to call in all the IOUs.

Yeah, I want them to keep everything Billy Jack says

out of the media.

Defend the party.

What do you mean with what?

He's a criminal, convicted by the Senate,

and now blocking the relief bill

and starving people.

He's one of those crazy radicals

making a mockery of our courts and institutions.

With what, he asks.

And buy up every minute you can of every station

over 2 watts in the state,

and keep those commercials spouting against him.

Look, I don't give a damn what your problems are! Just do it!

Gentlemen, gentlemen, this can't go on.

It's ridiculous.

Fantastic. For one nuclear plant?

Why don't we throw Section 40 out and him with it?

What do you mean? And repudiate Joe here?

Henry, you've got to get that man off the floor.

Come on, boys. You know as well as I do

as long as Mr. Jack holds that floor legitimately,

he's going to hold it.

And if anyone were to ask me,

I'd say the young fella's making a lot of sense.

Sense? You call blackmail sense, Henry?

Look, Joe, I didn't like this radical from the beginning,

but if the man weren't sincere,

how could he stage such a good fight

against these impossible odds?

Well, that's just fine, Martin, that's just fine.

I'm glad to hear that after 20 years of working

with you fellas, you're ready to take his word over mine.

what it means. If he's just that much right,

then I'm totally wrong.

Joe, isn't there just some way

we can get that nuclear plant out of there,

just so we can get the deficiency bill through?

It's not a question of a nuclear plant.

It's a question of my honor

and the integrity of the select committee.

Yes, and the Senate itself.

But if that's what you want to do, go ahead!

Throw out Section 40.

I'll resign from the committee and we'll be through with it.

Now wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait, wait.

This is a lot of nonsense.

Now, Joe's right.

A deal is impossible.

We have got to go on the way we have been doing and break him.

Keep him talking.

No relief.

Maintain a watch in relays.

I mean, after all, how long can a man stand on his legs?

Is that the way you feel, John?

For once, we're in total agreement.

Charlie? Right, I couldn't agree more.

Gentlemen, time to leave the man on the floor.

Now tell me, does anybody in this chamber really

I guess we have the night shift coming on, Mr. President.

Here.

Thank you, Jimmy.

Oh, Mr. President, I am very happy to learn

that the Senate rules provide for human frailty

and that I am allowed under the rules

a twoor three-minute break for emergencies.

Uh, Mr. President, right now, it is such an emergency.

Charlie, I want the entire morning edition front page

nothing but a blast to shove him off the floor.

And I want telegrams, you understand?

Telegrams pouring in to Senator Payne's office.

All right, here's how we do it

a convicted thief purportedly representing you

has totally crippled the United States Senate.

You got that?

Now we come to the real reason

Senator Foley sealed this file.

Oh, ugly as the facts are,

but the contributions and the kickbacks,

that's penny ante stuff compared to the real reason

that Foley classified this as top-secret.

No, gentlemen, the real reason lies here, in this file.

What does it reveal? Oh, nothing much

just the astonishing fact that over a ten-year period

at 58 different nuclear plants,

there were at least 141 technical mishaps

that came dangerously close to a complete meltdown.

Now let me put that for you in another way, gentlemen.

All the while that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

was pointing to Three Mile Island as proof

of the safety of their program

after all, no one got killed, right? -

and was assuring us under oath

that it was a freak accident that could never happen again,

they had, in their possession, here in Foley's file,

full knowledge that there was an accident

on the average of at least once a month,

each and every month, for the last ten years.

Each accident of which came dangerously close,

sometimes within within even hours to a meltdown

that was similar or worse to the one at Three Mile Island,

and any one of which could have destroyed

the entire community that the plant was located in.

Hey, but Mr. Bailey and all of your Mr. Baileys

are gonna make huge profits.

So the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

lies through its teeth to the American people,

and you gentlemen, you swear to it.

Saunders, Jean, you better wake up.

You guys are in trouble.

What?

Brady's column, too. I can't believe it!

What are you talking about?

You better call your boy off, Jean. He's getting nowhere.

Why? It's murder.

Almost nothing of what he's saying is being printed

or heard back in your home state.

What? Brady's column, radio,

wire service, television stations,

everything has been scratched.

How in the hell can they do that?

Well, so now in the meantime,

all of Bailey's stations and friends

are pouring out the party line, right?

Better believe it. He's got demonstrators

coming out of party headquarters in every corner of that state.

And that's what you'd call freedom of the press, right?

It's just not fair.

How do you stand it here?

Jean, Jean, come on.

No, I'm not gonna come on.

Saunders, telephone.

One simple little tool

could turn this government

back into being a government of the people

instead of a government of corporations,

and that tool is the national initiative.

Well

What is it, Saunders?

Tell Billy to stop.

He's beat, Jean.

They just busted up your TV station

and cut your transmitting cable.

Greed, greed exists in all of us.

And the whole purpose of the Constitution

is to protect the people

that we are sent here to represent from our greed.

Then, if we're really gonna have a representative government,

we have to give people back the tool

so that is we fail to protect their rights,

they can protect their rights

by a national initiative.

For a right without the tool to remedy it

is no right at all.

Well

Jean, he's killing himself for nothing.

Stop him.

I can't make him stop.

Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Yield how, Senator Payne?

For a question.

Will the senator yield to his colleague?

For a question.

Yes, yes, Senator Payne, I'll yield for a question.

The Senator has repeatedly stated

that he is speaking to the people of our state.

He is waiting, as he so fancifully put it,

for them to come marching here in droves.

Would the senator be interested in knowing

what the people of our state are saying?

Oh, you bet, Senator Payne. You bet I would.

Mr. President, have I permission to bring into this chamber

evidence of the response of the people of my state?

Is there any objection?

No.

You may proceed.

Pages.

All of you, please.

There it is, gentlemen.

The gentleman's answer.

Letters, telegrams 50,000 of them

demanding that he yield this floor.

I invite the Senate to read them.

I invite my colleague to read them.

The people's answer to Billy Jack!

Well

I guess this looks like

just another lost cause.

You people, you people up there

wouldn't know about lost causes.

But Mr. Payne does.

He once told me

that the only causes worth fighting for

were the lost causes.

And he fought for them once

for the only reason that any man ever fights for them

Because there's this burning thing in here

that says no matter how great your defects

how bad your faults or how many mistakes you've made

you've got to try to live your life by a simple rule

just to love your neighbor as much as yourself.

You've forgotten all that, haven't you, Senator?

It's part of the great political campaign speeches.

Or the crap you tell young senators

who come in here believing.

Believing in everything they read in the history books

about this great body the Senate.

You think I'm licked, don't you?

You all think I'm licked, huh?

Why, because Payne's guardian angel

can manufacture overnight

all this phony letter campaign?

Huh?

This?

Here, you read it.

Go ahead, Mr. Majority Leader,

why don't you guys read this stuff?

You read it.

Here, all of ya!

I mean, you know how to manufacture that stuff

every time you want to run for re-election.

Every time you want to stuff a nuclear plant

down people's throat,

then you know how to manufacture that stuff

with your Madison Avenue boys overnight!

And then once you get inside this chamber,

you forget all about it until the next six years!

Y

You think that just because

you come marching in here with all these lies

that I'm gonna quit?

I mean, Senator, I don't care

I don't care if all of the Baileys,

all of your Baileys, come marching in here

with all their armies and all the National Guards

and you fill this chamber with lies!

And, Senator, that's all they are is lies!

I am gonna stand on this floor,

and I am gonna fight for this lost cause

until the people rise up

and get rid of your party conventions

and your political machines

and once again have a voice

through their own national initiative.

Because you see, those of us

those of us who know that simple rule,

to try to deal fairly and honestly and justly,

even with the little guy,

with the little man out there

who doesn't have a party machine or a Bailey

those of us have a sacred trust, Mr. Payne.

And you once had that scared trust.

And you also know that the men that live by that rule

are willing to die for those lost causes.

Just as that man we both once loved

died for his.

Remember that, slumped over his desk,

with a bullet in his back.

You remember that, Senator Payne?

Well

I'm gonna stay here,

and I'm gonna fight for this lost cause.

Can I please

Can I have a drink of water?

Billy!

Get a medical in here!

Mr. President! Mr. President!

What is the pending business before the Senate?

The question before the Senate is the motion

to adopt the Senator's resolution

on the expulsion of Senator Billy Jack.

Mr. President, I insist upon my motion,

and I demand the yays and nays.

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No!

You did it.

So, no matter what they do to you now, you did it.

And you didn't even have to once take off your boots.

The clerk will read the resolution.

By title, for the information of the Senate.

Senate resolution 336

calling for the expulsion of Senator Billy Jack.

The yays and nays are requested

for the adoption of the resolution.

Is there a sufficient second?

No.

Obviously, there's a sufficient number.

Clerk will call the roll.

No, he's

I didn't quite get your remarks, Senator Payne.

No! No!

Expel me, not him!

I am not fit to be a senator.

Everything he said about the Willett Creek project is true.

It is a fraud. It's a crime.

It's a crime against the people of the state

that sent me here, and I committed it.

Expel me!

Everything that that boy said is true.

Everything he said about Bailey and me,

about the political corruption in my state, it's true.

Everything he said about most of us in this chamber is true,

and we know it!

I am not fit for any office.

I am not fit for any place of honor or trust.

I demand that this Senate expel me.

Expel me, not him.

Expel me.

D Go ahead and hate your neighbor d

d Go ahead and cheat a friend d

d Do it in the name of heaven d

d You can justify it in the end d

d There won't be any trumpets blowing d

d Come the judgment day

d On the bloody morning after d

d Ooh

d One tin soldier rides away d

d So the people of the valley d

d Sent a message up the hill d

d Asking for the buried treasure d

d Tons of gold for which they'd kill d

d Came an answer from the kingdom d

d With our brothers we will share d

d All the secrets of our mountain d

d And all the riches buried there d

d Now the valley cried with anger d

d Mount your horses! Draw your sword! d

d And they killed the mountain people d

d So they won their just reward d

d Now they stood beside the treasure d

d On the mountain, dark and red d

d Turned the stone and looked beneath it d

d Peace on Earth was all it said d

d Go ahead and hate your neighbor d

d Go ahead and cheat a friend d

d Do it in the name of heaven d

d You can justify it in the end d

d There won't be any trumpets blowing d

d Come the judgment day

d On the bloody morning after d

d Ooh

d One tin soldier rides away d

d Go ahead and hate your neighbor d

d Go ahead and cheat a friend d

d Do it in the name of heaven d

d You can justify it in the end d

d There won't be any trumpets blowing d

d Come the judgment day

d On the bloody morning after d

d Ooh

d One tin soldier rides away d

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