[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 79 (Monday, June 19, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6055-S6056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE CONTINUING SERVICE OF SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senate has just marked another 
milestone with the extraordinary service of the senior Senator from 
West Virginia. I consider him a mentor and a friend. I have had the 
privilege of serving with Senator Byrd on the Judiciary Committee and I 
currently serve with him on the Appropriations Committee. I know 
firsthand his work as the Senate majority leader, the Senate Democratic 
leader, and as our President pro tempore.
  He understands the role of the Senate and the need for it to act as a 
check and a balance on the President. In recent years, he has been 
discovered by a new generation of Americans as a true Senator.
  By his work and his example he teaches each of us every day what the 
Senate should be and must be if the constitutional design of the 
Founders is to serve and preserve our rights and liberties.
  One of the great privileges of serving in the Senate is to serve with 
the senior Senator from West Virginia. One of the great pleasures is to 
hear him speak on this floor. His continuing contributions to the 
Senate and the Nation are too numerous to recount but I would like to 
mention one of the many outstanding moments.
  Senator Byrd has preserved the Constitution from numerous assaults. 
He takes seriously the Senate oath to ``support and defend'' the 
Constitution. He has protected it from a number of ill-conceived and 
politically-motivated amendments, including the so-called balanced 
budget amendment and the line-item veto. The last time the Senate 
considered amending the Constitution to cut back on our individual 
liberties and limit the first amendment, that guarantee in the Bill of 
Rights of our freedom of religion and speech, it was in no small way 
thanks to Senator Byrd that the Constitution and the rights of 
Americans were preserved.
  On March 29, 2000, he gave an extraordinary speech. I was a manager 
on the matter and was fortunate to be present. I noted at the time that 
``periodically, we hear greatness in speeches,'' and observed that this 
was a case where the Senate had heard greatness. It is a speech that 
students of the Constitution and of constitutional history should 
study.
  In the days ahead, we will again be challenged to amend our Bill of 
Rights for the first time in over 200 years. I can think of no one I 
would rather stand with and fight for the Constitution than the senior 
Senator from West Virginia. Every day he walks on the floor of this 
Senate carrying the Constitution because he knows that the liberties of 
the American people are not to be sacrificed for passing political 
favor. He is a fierce advocate for the Nation, the Constitution, the 
Senate, but first and foremost, for the people of the State of West 
Virginia whom he represents so ably.

[[Page S6056]]

  I have said that I sit in the white hair row. It is a row that I 
picked. Because of my seniority, I can sit just about anywhere I want, 
but I sit in this row to sit near Senator Byrd.
  Senator Byrd is a Senator's Senator, but he is also a Senator who 
respects and preserves the Constitution. We are supposed to be the 
conscience of the Nation. There is only 100 of us to represent 219 
million Americans. Thank goodness one of those 100 is Robert C. Byrd of 
West Virginia.

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