[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 178 (Friday, November 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14596-S14597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to wish a very happy 
birthday today to my colleague, Senator Robert C. Byrd, and to say a 
couple of things about him.
  As the majority leader indicated, we had a wonderful reception for 
him last night, and what was interesting to me was not only the warmth 
of what it was that those who spoke said of him, but even more 
important was the fact that in the crowd of 2 or 300, I would say 80 
percent of them had come up from West Virginia or were West Virginians 
who had come from other parts of the country.
  It was actually the strongest statement of the evening because it 
reflects their love and their respect. These were people who would not 
ordinarily do something such as this because they have other matters 
they might need to attend to because they are public officials or 
because of their positions--they are scholars or whatever. But they 
made their way up here so they could pay their tribute by their 
presence, even though they could not say a word to Senator Byrd.
  That meant a lot to me, to understand--as I do anyway--the way people 
feel.
  I also wish to say one of the things I have always most admired about 
Senator Byrd is he grew up the hard way.

[[Page S14597]]

We have talked about that from time to time, all of us who comment on 
Senator Byrd, from one birthday to another, and how he persevered and 
how he never grew discouraged. He had very little means with which to 
live, but he had something called iron will and a sense of purpose.
  It is not entirely clear to me that his sense of purpose was to be 
directed to the Senate in his early years, when he was working for the 
military, as a ship builder, as a meat cutter, and doing other things 
he needed to do, particularly when he was in West Virginia, for the 
purpose of surviving.
  But what actually interests me almost the least about next Tuesday is 
that it is his 90th birthday. That is not what I think of when I think 
of Robert C. Byrd. I don't think about his age. I think about his 
absolutely dominant sense of discipline, self-control, purpose, and a 
willingness to do whatever needs to be done to accomplish a goal for 
West Virginia.
  Senator Byrd and this speaker, this Senator, understand very well how 
hard it is for West Virginia to succeed, to make strides forward, 
partly because of the nature of its topography--only 4 percent of the 
land is flat. There is a very interesting effect of that 4 percent. I 
think Senator Byrd would agree with me. It causes us not only to have 
to fit most of the industry in that 4 percent, but a lot of the people 
are fit into that 4 percent. Therefore, by definition, the word 
``community,'' and from that the word ``family,'' has a powerful 
meaning in West Virginia.
  I wasn't born in West Virginia. I came to West Virginia as a VISTA 
volunteer and worked in a very challenged community for 2 years as a 
VISTA volunteer. It was that sense of family, of people looking out for 
each other, that turned my life upside down and made me want to stay 
there and fight for West Virginia.
  The phrase ``fighting for West Virginia'' is what sums up Robert C. 
Byrd, whether it is his 50th birthday or his 90th birthday. It has 
never changed with him. The fight for West Virginia, in our part of the 
world, is a sacred cause; No. 1, because it is hard; No. 2, because 
there are so many people who don't understand West Virginia, don't 
understand West Virginians.
  But then an interesting thing happens. They come to West Virginia on 
a visit. When they go to the Greenbrier, that doesn't quite count as 
going to West Virginia. But if they come to the rest of West Virginia, 
they are usually overwhelmed. This can be reporters, this can be 
observers, this can be people who are doing business or visiting in 
West Virginia--they are overwhelmed by the sense of warmth, honesty, 
integrity, purpose. For the most part, it is a hard life, a fairly low 
average family income, people living at the margins--some people doing 
spectacularly well. Many of them leave the State. Many of them stay in 
the State.
  But West Virginia takes work. It takes hard work. That is what 
Senator Robert C. Byrd is all about and that is what I think of when I 
think of him on this day, on next Tuesday, or any time in the future: 
the capacity and the love of hard work. It is a requirement for a 
Senator from West Virginia, but it has been the particular domain of 
the senior Senator from West Virginia. Yes, it is true that he has held 
powerful positions and does hold powerful positions in the Senate. What 
can one make of that? The fact that he has been here and he has earned 
those positions.
  But he has done everything in his power to help our people and to 
help our communities. That is essentially what I am here for, but I am 
staggered by what he has done.
  It is not just the building of roads--that is what is usually 
associated with Senator Byrd--but it is all kinds of work. When you 
pick up a local newspaper, often somebody--some institution, some 
college, some volunteer fire department, some research institute at one 
of our universities or colleges--has been helped by Senator Byrd.
  It is work, it is simply hard work.
  It is like the memorization which has been referred to so often. It 
is the power of memory. If you memorize poems, if you memorize books, 
if you memorize English monarchs, that takes work. It takes a 
particular type of diligence, fanatical commitment to achieving a 
purpose. So he can do it on that cerebral side, the intellectual side, 
and he does it all the time in serving West Virginia.
  I can remember in happier days for all of us, when Irma, his beloved 
wife, was living. I would call him--I would try not to call Senator 
Byrd too often at home--and she would say: Oh, he is out on the porch 
having a cigar.
  I would feel good. I would feel good because it would be one of the 
very few times that I had ever heard of Senator Byrd not working but 
actually sitting on the porch smoking a cigar. Now, he may have been 
reading the Constitution, he may have been reading the Encyclopedia 
Britannica, I have no idea. But he was smoking a cigar. Or sometimes he 
would take a walk with his beloved dog Billy. And those things he 
treasured.
  So he did have his moments of solace and his moments of quietude. I 
think a particularly hard blow for him, and therefore for my wife 
Sharon and myself, was the death of his wife. She was the, as they say, 
moving wind under his wings. He adored her. We have had many 
conversations about her. Yet when she passed on, it did not change his 
nature. It saddened him. He does not show his emotions. But it did not 
change his nature as a worker. So he will be 90, that should be noted 
as a fact, on Tuesday. But on Tuesday he will also be an incredible 
fighter for the people of West Virginia and, yes, of the Constitution 
and, yes, the place of the Senate in our pattern of Government. But, 
fundamentally, his heart, his work, his attention, over and above what 
he has given to his family, has been helping the people of West 
Virginia. That is what we are elected to do. We all do it in one way or 
another. Some just do it in a superior way because they have the 
superior ability and a superior focus and a superior concentration and 
an overwhelming love for their State, which nurtured them, brought them 
up, and gave them the values Senator Byrd has.
  Senator Byrd, I am tempted at this point to say: Here is to you. But 
you do not drink. That is another one of your good characteristics. So 
I am not going to say that. I am just going to say I am extremely proud 
to be your colleague. I am very moved by every aspect of your career 
which, I think, in the broad sweep of America, matches anybody.
  Lots of people can make money. They have an idea, they turn it into a 
product, the product sells, they make a lot of money, and then they go 
buy houses and do things. Very few people have the constancy of purpose 
and love of State, driven greatly now by the memory of Irma, which is 
always with you every minute of every day.
  So I honor you, Senator Byrd. I wish you a happy birthday, and many 
happy birthdays to come.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I wish Senator Byrd a happy birthday. I 
was there at the celebration last night. Senator Byrd is one of the 
great men in American history. As people will look back on his career, 
they will see a truly remarkable public servant. It has been my 
privilege in the 21 years I have been here to watch Senator Byrd, to 
learn from him. He is a truly remarkable man, a renaissance man, 
somebody who studied not only American history but world history. He 
has learned from what he has studied. He brings the wisdom of the ages 
to this Chamber.
  We have enormous admiration for what Senator Byrd has meant to this 
country, to his State, and to the Senate that he loves so much. We all 
recognize Senator Byrd and want to honor him on this special day.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio.

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