On February 18, the day S. J. Res. 1 was to be the pending order of business in the Senate, press reports made Bayh and his staff aware that Everett Dirksen might join Roman Hruska’s effort to replace the resolution with an enabling amendment only, arguing that Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach actually favored that alternative and that his apparent support for S. J. Res. 1 was the result of White House pressure. A postponement of debate gave Bayh’s staff just enough time to obtain a firm written statement of support from Katzenbach to counter any possible move by Dirksen. With this and the guaranteed presence of Sam Ervin on the Senate floor as a recognized constitutional authority, they entered what would be nearly 6 hours of debate ranging from the proposed Dirksen-Hruska amendment through the details of language raised in both Senate subcommittee and House Judiciary Committee hearings.