[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 77 (Thursday, June 15, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5939-S5940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, earlier in the week, on Monday to be 
exact, Senator Robert C. Byrd, our very distinguished colleague, became 
the longest serving Senator in the history of the U.S. Senate. It is 
obviously a moment to celebrate and recognize his accomplishments in 
the service of the Nation. Our celebration is tempered only by the fact 
that his beloved wife Erma, with whom he spent nearly 69 years of 
marriage, passed away recently.
  I want to join my colleagues who, in the course of this week, have 
paid tribute to the senior Senator from West Virginia. Senator Byrd 
this year completes his eighth Senate term, having first been elected 
to the Senate in 1958. Prior to that, he served 6 years in the U.S. 
House of Representatives and, before that, 6 years in the West Virginia 
legislature.
  In his now almost 48 years in the U.S. Senate, he has held an 
extraordinary range of committee and subcommittee assignments and has 
served in leadership positions as secretary of the majority conference, 
majority whip, minority leader, majority leader, and President pro 
tempore. His vote has been recorded on nearly 99 percent of all Senate 
rollcalls since 1958. Indeed, he has cast far more votes than any other 
Senator in our Nation's history.
  It is not for his longevity, however, that we honor our colleague, 
the senior Senator from West Virginia. It is, rather, the manner in 
which he has faithfully carried out his responsibilities as a U.S. 
Senator and his abiding dedication to the Constitution of the United 
States and the system of government it created. No Member of the U.S. 
Congress understands better than Senator Byrd the Constitution's role 
in framing our lives as Americans. As he has written:

       Only the Constitution's genius affords our people the 
     powers and prerogatives that truly keep us a free nation, 
     most centrally through maintenance of the checks and balances 
     and separation of powers.

  Over many years, while vigorously and effectively representing the 
people of West Virginia, Senator Byrd has made the study, exposition, 
and defense of the Constitution his life's work. In so doing, he has 
spoken not only for West Virginians but for us all. If, as Senator Byrd 
has said, the Senate functions as the central pillar of our 
constitutional system, then I would say that Senator Byrd himself is 
the central pillar of the Senate. His commitment to the Senate and its 
history, its custom, and procedures is equaled only by his commitment 
to the State of West Virginia, our Nation, and our Constitution.
  No one is more keenly attuned to the Senate's role in assuring the 
proper functioning of our constitutional system. He has studied the 
Senate's origins in Roman and British history. He has, as he puts it, 
``ponder[ed] the lives of the framers and founders and set down a four-
volume history of the Senate.'' And he has read the journals and other 
writings of the early Members of this body. He has mastered the Senate 
rules to a degree that few, if any, others have ever attained. Even in 
the most contentious debates, Senator Robert C. Byrd remains a steady 
voice for courtesy and civility. Indeed, his is the voice of courtesy 
and civility.
  Senator Byrd begins his autobiography, ``Child of the Appalachian 
Coalfields,'' with an observation by William James:

       The best use of life is to invest it in something which 
     will outlast life.

  This certainly is what he has done.
  It was not foreordained that he would some day be a U.S. Senator from 
West Virginia. Born in North Carolina, he lost his mother in the great 
influenza epidemic of 1918, when he was a year old, whereupon he was 
adopted by an aunt and her husband and moved with them to West 
Virginia. His adopted father was a coal miner, and he grew up in 
company towns. He was an excellent student, valedictorian of his high 
school class, ``a self-styled sort of somebody,'' one high school 
teacher later said, but his prospects were few. As another teacher 
observed:

       Knowing the background and how hard it would be to move out 
     from that background, I picture him as being an office man or 
     a scrip clerk at one of the mines.

  In those years of the Great Depression, there was obviously no money 
for college. Robert Byrd took what jobs he could get: Shop clerk, 
butcher, a welder in a Baltimore shipyard during World War II. We were 
honored to have had him in our State.
  In 1946, he was elected to the first of three terms in the State 
legislature. Of the decision to run for office he has said:

       I grew up in a state where we didn't have much hope. I 
     wanted to help my people and give them hope . . .

  He did not abandon his hopes of continuing his education. Upon his 
election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1952, he enrolled in 
law school. When he learned that he would be denied a law degree 
because he had never received a college degree in the law school in 
which he had enrolled, he transferred to the Washington College of Law 
at American University where he went to night classes for 10 years and 
received his law degree cum laude in 1963--a remarkable achievement. By 
that time he had been a Senator from West Virginia for 5 years. Robert 
Byrd is the only person ever to have served in either House of Congress 
to begin and complete a law degree while serving.
  Twenty years later, the College of Law at American University honored 
him as the First Distinguished Fellow of the honor society established 
by the late dean of the college, a most fitting tribute. Eleven years 
later, in 1994, he received his bachelor's degree in political science 
from Marshall University in recognition of the credits accumulated 
there and other places over a period of many years.
  Of the many awards he has received in the course of his long and 
distinguished career, Senator Byrd has said that none means more to him 
than the tribute from the Governor and legislature of his State in 
naming him ``West Virginian of the 20th Century.''
  As his colleague here in the Senate for the past 30 years and as one 
who has the deepest respect and admiration for him and cherishes his 
counsel and friendship, I submit that he will be remembered not only 
for his service to his State but for the courage and dedication and 
tenacity he has shown and continues to show every day in the service of 
our Nation. It is a privilege to be his colleague here in the U.S. 
Senate.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, it is indeed a privilege and honor for me 
to join my colleagues in commemorating and honoring my friend and 
colleague, Senator Robert C. Byrd, on the occasion of his becoming the 
longest serving Senator in the history of our country, passing the old 
mark of 17,326 days on June 12, 2006. The fact that West Virginians 
have returned him to the

[[Page S5940]]

Senate in eight prior elections speaks volumes of the love and 
affection and respect they feel for him as their Senator who serves 
them most effectively.
  When I first came to the Senate in 1990 from the other side of the 
Capitol, Senator Byrd was one of the first Senators I met with to get 
advice and counsel, which he generously shared with me. Of course, he 
gave me a copy of a pocket edition of the Constitution, the document 
upon which our country is based and one that is ever-present in his 
pocket. Over the years, he has been most generous with his friendships, 
and indeed I feel a sense of kinship and aloha with him. In Hawaii, 
this feeling of kinship is often referred to as being part of the 
ohana, or family, and used with love and endearment.
  With stewards like Senator Robert C. Byrd, we can rest assured that 
our country is in good hands. I look forward to his continuing 
friendship and serving with him for many years to come.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I do want to talk for a minute about 
Senator Byrd and recognize he has set a record in the Senate, as many 
of my colleagues have noted on the floor.
  He marked his l7,327th day in office yesterday and became the longest 
serving Senator in history. That is truly a remarkable accomplishment, 
and I personally have many fond memories of working with Senator Byrd 
and look forward to many more.
  I remember well when I came here as a freshman Senator 13 \1/2\ years 
ago. Senator Byrd at the time brought in all of us freshmen Senators to 
sit across from him in his very important office and looked down at us 
and told us that we would be presiding, as is the Presiding Officer 
today, and told us about our responsibilities and made it very clear he 
would be watching from his office, and if we were reading any other 
material or talking to anyone, it would be noted.
  I certainly did remember that during the many hours I spent in the 
Presiding Officer's chair because I knew he was watching. But I think 
it was a simple reminder to all of us as to the importance of the 
office we hold here and the respect we have to have for our colleagues.
  I remember as well that he invited me to lunch several months later 
with the Senator from Oregon, Mr. Hatfield, a Republican, to sit down 
and talk with me about the responsibilities I had as a Senator. And I 
was so impressed sitting in the room with Senator Byrd and Senator 
Hatfield, never in my life expecting to have that kind of opportunity. 
At that meeting they impressed upon me the importance of working across 
the aisle and respect for the minority and how important everybody's 
voice is here. It was an important lesson and one I think we all should 
be reminded of more often.
  But just that simple act of inviting me to lunch with two incredible 
leaders in the Senate is a memory I hold dear, and I thank my colleague 
for doing that.
  But, frankly, I think what I most will remember Senator Byrd for--and 
is a good reminder to all of us, too--is several years ago when my 
husband came out here to Washington, DC--he lives in Washington State. 
I go home every weekend. But he came out here because it was our 
wedding anniversary, and instead of me having to fly home, he flew out 
here. He was coming up the steps of the Capitol, and I met him as 
Senator Byrd was walking out to his car.
  Senator Byrd saw my husband, and he said: Welcome. Nice to have you 
here at this end of the country. What brings you here?
  And my husband said: Well, it is our wedding anniversary.
  And Senator Byrd, who, as we well know, lost his beloved wife just a 
few short weeks ago, was about to celebrate I think it was his 67th 
wedding anniversary. He looked at my husband and said: Which 
anniversary is this?
  And my husband said: It is our 32nd.
  Senator Byrd paused and said: Well, it is a good start.
  I think the message of that is important for all of us in our 
everyday lives, in our responsibilities as spouses, and as Senators, to 
remember it is a good start every day, and you can't rest on your 
laurels and think back: Well, we have done this for 32 years. The next 
32 will be easy. Every day you have to come out and work hard at 
whatever role you are in at the time.
  I certainly say to my good friend, Senator Byrd, how much I respect 
him and admire him. And today, as he marks his l7,328th day in office, 
I say to him: It is a good start.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). The Senator from Alaska is 
recognized.

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