[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2066-2067]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today we observe and celebrate a milestone 
in the life of one of our most respected colleagues. On Saturday, March 
4, Senator Robert C. Byrd became the third longest-serving Senator in 
the history of this august body--surpassing the service of the 
venerable and beloved John Stennis of my State, who served 41 years and 
2 months.
  This November, Senator Byrd will surpass the service of Senator Carl 
Hayden which will mean that we will be novices working alongside two of 
the longest-serving Senators in history. Both of them are here with us 
now--Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd. Just think about that. They will 
be the top two in history in tenure, and we will be serving with both 
of them.
  It is more than about tenure, however, when you talk about Strom 
Thurmond or Robert C. Byrd. In the case of Senator Byrd, in his 41-plus 
years, colleagues have placed their trust in him to hold the highest 
offices in this institution. He was among those who were elected to the 
leadership positions but also at the committee level. He has been both 
the majority leader and the minority leader; he has been President pro 
tempore; and he has chaired our Committee on Appropriations. Today he 
is the ranking Democrat on that very important committee.
  What he has brought to those positions has been more than hard work 
and high skills. He has brought a passion for procedures, an insistence 
upon order. On occasion, he has reminded me what the rules are or what 
order requires. It is always intended to be helpful because he believes 
that the institution itself is more important than any one Senator.
  On occasion, he has regaled the Senate with a discourse on antiquity 
and, more specifically, the history of Greece and Rome and, of course, 
the Roman Senate. Yet when Senator Byrd speaks, Senators actually come 
out of the Cloakroom and our offices and listen, enthralled, to the 
history that he knows and the quotes that he gives from memory. He has 
inspired us many times both in the antiquity that he talks about and 
also the very great personal stories that he tells and the quotations. 
I remember he had a quote when I had a grandson born a year and a half 
ago about the beauty of being a grandparent, and it was just one of the 
most beautiful things I have ever heard on the floor of the Senate, 
maybe not so much as to who had said it, or how he was saying it, but 
who he was saying it about. He did a beautiful job.
  He speaks of great historic events and he quotes from the Bible. And 
yet he has spoken personally, humanly, about the wonders of life, and 
even to being the owner of a wonderful dog named Billy, in such a way 
that has brought tears to our eyes. Having seen ``My Dog, Skip'' just 
this past weekend, I know sometimes the beauty of an animal or dog in 
your family will bring tears quicker than anything perhaps.
  In today's world, where anything older than a decade is considered 
ancient, his knowledge of the classical world is truly extraordinary, 
and his insistence that its somber lessons are relevant to our own 
times is truly sobering.
  In seasons of turmoil, it is the Senate's role to give the Nation the 
reassurance of stability and endurance. That is what the framers of our 
Constitution intended when they devised

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an upper Chamber that would be a steady anchor against the wild winds 
of public passion and hasty action.
  Senator Byrd's magnificent addresses on the history of the Senate 
chronicle the work of Senators--whether renowned or obscure--who have 
toiled in this body for causes larger than their own advancement, both 
here in this room and in the old Chamber where the Senate did its work 
until 1859.
  Senator Byrd's personal heroes, such as Richard Russell of Georgia, 
have pursued duty rather than passing glory, and in the process won for 
themselves a lasting remembrance in the annals of representative 
democracy.
  Because of my own southern background and because of Senator Byrd's 
comments over the years, things he has noted about Senator Russell, I 
have gone back and read some of the history of this great Senator. It 
was interesting to me to note that others indicated he surely could 
have been the majority leader. Clearly, he could have assumed any role 
he wanted in the Senate. But he chose not to do that. He chose instead 
to be chairman of the Armed Services Committee, chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee, to be involved in everything that happened in 
the Senate. He was truly a unique Senator in many ways.
  Today, we celebrate and stand in respectful witness to the history 
that Robert Byrd is making as the Senator from West Virginia who, for 
41 years and 2 months, has pursued duty rather than passing glory for 
causes larger than his own advancement.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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