[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING ROBERT C. BYRD

  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, today I wish to observe the birthday of 
one of the greatest Americans to grace these Chambers--Cornelius Calvin 
Sale Jr., better known to us--and to history--as Robert C. Byrd of West 
Virginia.
  Robert C. Byrd was born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr. in North 
Wilkesboro, NC. He was 10 months old when his mother died from flu, and 
he was adopted by his aunt and uncle, Titus and Vlurma Byrd. They 
changed his name to Robert Carlyle Byrd and raised him in the coal-
mining Appalachian region of West Virginia.
  And in the 150 years of West Virginia's history, our State has had no 
greater advocate than Robert C. Byrd. Many in the Senate today served 
with Robert C. Byrd, and they can bear witness to the fact that the 
Senate, like the State of West Virginia, also had no greater advocate 
than Robert C. Byrd. Today would have been the Senator's 96th birthday, 
and every day since his passing in 2010, the people of West Virginia 
feel the loss of this great man.
  The Senate also feels his loss because no one knew the Senate--its 
history, its traditions, its precedents--better than Robert C. Byrd.
  He made it a point to meet with every new Senator and to impress upon 
them the fact that they were to be caretakers of this institution--an 
institution he regarded as both the morning star and the evening star 
of the American constitutional constellation. He also impressed upon 
them that they did not serve ``under'' any president, but that as a 
separate but equal branch of the government, they served ``with'' 
presidents, acting as a check on the executive's power. When he passed 
away, he was the longest serving member of Congress in our Nation's 
history and, as such, served with 11 Presidents.
  In his long life, Robert C. Byrd had three great loves--his wife 
``fair'' Erma, as he called her; the State of West Virginia; and the 
United States Senate. But he also had a great passion for the document 
from which the Senate and this great country sprang--the U.S. 
Constitution. I have always thought that is why he kept a copy of the 
Constitution in his coat pocket--it was easy to reach for quick 
reference, but in his coat pocket, it also was close to his heart. Even 
though he could recite most of it by memory, he consulted his dog-eared 
copy of the Constitution often and without hesitation. In its words, he 
often said, he always found wisdom, truth and excitement--the same 
excitement he felt as a boy in Wolf Creek Hollow, WV, reading by 
kerosene lamp about the heroes of the American Revolution and the birth 
of our Nation. And those words guided him every day of the 58 years he 
spent in Washington as a member of Congress and as a Senator.
  Robert C. Byrd cast more than 18,500 votes in the Senate--a record 
that will never be equaled. Whether he voted with others or against 
them, it was never hard ideology with Robert C. Byrd. He had no use for 
narrow partisanship that trades on attack and values only victory.
  Any time Robert C. Byrd spoke, the Senate came to a halt and Senators 
on both sides of the aisle leaned forward--to listen and to learn.
  He ran for public office 15 times--and he never lost. He was first 
elected to the West Virginia legislature in 1946 and then was elected 
to three consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before 
his election to the Senate. He was a keen observer of politics--he 
advised more than one Presidential candidate to go to West Virginia, 
``get a little coal dust'' on their hands and ``live in spirit with the 
working people.''
  He was deeply proud of West Virginia and its people. He proudly 
defended his work to invest Federal dollars in his State.
  He breathed new life into many communities with funding for highways, 
hospitals, universities, research institutes, scholarships and 
housing--giving West Virginians the opportunities he himself never had.
  Robert C. Byrd's journey was, in many ways, America's journey. He 
came of age in an America segregated by race, which he eventually said 
was one of our country's greatest mistakes. And, as did America itself, 
he repented and made amends.
  The moments that define the lives of most men are few. Not so with 
Robert C. Byrd. He devoted his life to his beloved Erma and his family 
and to public service. He was a major figure in the great panorama of 
American history for more than half a century. His devotion to the 
Senate and his colleagues was unequaled. His mastery of Senate rules 
and parliamentary procedures was legendary. And his contributions to 
West Virginia and to this Nation were monumental. He was a true giant 
of the Senate. He is as much a part of this Chamber as these 100 
historic desks, these galleries, and these busts of Senate presidents.
  Robert C. Byrd revered the Senate and the Senate revered Robert C. 
Byrd. It is for this reason that I wish to observe the anniversary of 
the birth of a great West Virginian and great American--Robert Carlyle 
Byrd.
  May God bless his memory and his great spirit.

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