[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15346-15347]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE NATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE CAMP

  Mr. REED. Madam President, every summer the senior Senator from West 
Virginia, Mr. Byrd, hosts a luncheon for the participants of the 
National Youth Science Camp.
  This is a distinguished collection of high school students from every 
State in the Nation who have demonstrated exceptional abilities in the 
fields of science and technology. They participate in a two-week 
science camp in Green Bank, WV, and, afterwards, spend several days 
touring Washington, D.C. Their time in the Nation's capital culminates 
in the luncheon hosted by Senator Byrd.
  At this year's luncheon, held in the Russell Caucus Room on July 19, 
Senator Byrd was introduced by a member of the board of the National 
Youth Science Foundation, Mr. Charles McElwee.
  When Mr. McElwee introduced Senator Byrd at the luncheon, I was 
impressed. He recognized the remarkable accomplishments of the senior 
Senator from West Virginia: that Senator Byrd has served in the Senate 
for more than 42 years, has been elected to 8 consecutive 6-year Senate 
terms, and has held

[[Page 15347]]

more Senate leadership positions than any other Senator in history.
  Next, he referred to Senator Byrd's knowledge of Senate Rules, the 
Constitution, and the Bible, and his prolific writings on the histories 
of the U.S. Senate and the Roman Senate.
  Mr. McElwee then proceeded to challenge the young, budding scientists 
``to make the most of [their] natural minds, as has Senator Byrd.''
  I consider this powerful introduction of Senator Byrd a touching 
example of how one of Senator Byrd's constituents feels about him. It 
highlights the esteem in which he is held by his fellow West 
Virginians, and I want to share it with my colleagues. Therefore, I ask 
that Mr. McElwee's introduction of Senator Byrd be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Introduction of Hon. Robert C. Byrd, U.S. Senate Luncheon for National 
                         Youth Science Campers

                          (By Charles McElwee)

       How do I introduce a person before whom I stand in awe? How 
     do I introduce and pay tribute to West Virginia's most 
     respected and admired elected public official in the State's 
     history? How do I make the introduction and hold the 
     attention of youth, our guest science campers, when decades 
     separate us in age? I resolved to try by relating the mind 
     and accomplishments of our esteemed speaker to the minds and 
     aspirations of our youthful listeners.
       I commence by way of a reference to a renowned 
     mathematician, John Forbes Nash, Jr. Nash was born and reared 
     in Bluefield, West Virginia. He is recognized as a genius in 
     mathematics, especially in game theory, for which he was 
     awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994. His recent 
     biographer has described Nash as having ``A Beautiful Mind'' 
     and has given that title to her biography of him.
       While I stand among a hundred, young, beautiful minds, I 
     introduce a man with a singularly beautiful mind who has 
     cultivated, developed and used his natural endowment to its 
     fullest potential. I speak of the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, 
     the senior United States Senator from your host state, the 
     State of West Virginia, and your host for this luncheon 
     today.
       Senator Byrd has served in the United States Senate for 
     more than 42 years and was reelected in 2000 to an 
     unprecedented eighth consecutive six-year Senate term. He has 
     held more leadership positions in the Senate than any other 
     Senator in history, and presently serves as Chairman of the 
     powerful Senate Committee on Appropriations.
       Senator Byrd is a lawyer, having obtained his J.D. degree 
     cum laude after ten years of study in night classes in law 
     school, making him the only sitting member of either House of 
     Congress to begin and complete law degree studies while 
     serving in Congress.
       I have already told you enough to establish that Senator 
     Byrd is a man with a great mind and substantial achievements. 
     But I don't want to stop there because I want to use this 
     brief occasion of introduction to challenge you to make the 
     most of your natural gifts of beautiful minds, just as 
     Senator Byrd has done. Let me illustrate what a beautiful 
     mind can accomplish when it is disciplined and applied.
       (Holding up a copy of the United States Constitution.) 
     Senator Byrd carries with him at all times when discharging 
     his public duties a copy of the United States Constitution. 
     His knowledge of this document is, in my opinion, unsurpassed 
     by any other member of the Senate. He qualifies as a 
     constitutional lawyer and scholar. In fact, Senator Byrd 
     shared with another the first ``We the People'' award 
     presented by the National Constitution Center to a 
     constitutional scholar, who had demonstrated his love of, and 
     concern for, the United States Constitution.
       (Holding up a copy of the Bible.) Senator Byrd's knowledge 
     of the Bible, King James version, is stupendous. He can 
     recite from memory dozens of passages from both the Old and 
     New Testaments. But more importantly, he and Erma, his 
     beloved wife of sixty-four years, have shaped their lives to 
     conform with biblical precepts.
       (Holding up a copy of one of Senator Byrd's favorite poems, 
     ``The Bridge Builder.'') Senator Byrd has an immense 
     knowledge of English and American literature and has 
     committed to memory a great store of verse. Two of his 
     favorite poems are ``The Bridge Builder'' and ``Fence or An 
     Ambulance.'' Both refer to youth like you. In the first, an 
     old man has crossed over a deep and perilous chasm. Although 
     he would never pass that way again, he stopped to build a 
     bridge to span the cleft. Upon being asked why, the old man 
     explained:

     There followeth after me today,
     A youth whose feet must pass this way.
     This chasm which was but naught to me
     To that fair youth may a pitfall be.

       The second of the poems has this wise counsel: ``Better 
     guide well the young than reclaim them when old.'' The 
     stewardship which Senator Byrd believes that adults have for 
     the welfare and development of the young is evident in his 
     most beloved verses.
       (Holding up one volume of four volumes written by Senator 
     Byrd on ``The Senate, 1789-1989.'') These four volumes are a 
     virtual encyclopedia of Senate History. There is probably no 
     person alive who knows the history and parliamentary rules of 
     the United States Senate better than Senator Byrd.
       (Holding up a copy of ``The Senate of the Roman 
     Republic.'') This volume is a compilation of fourteen 
     addresses delivered on the floor of the Senate by Senator 
     Byrd over five and a-half months on the History of Roman 
     Constitutionalism in opposition to the proposal for a line-
     item presidential veto. The important point here is that he 
     delivered each of these fourteen speeches, which were packed 
     with names, dates, and complex narratives, entirely from 
     memory and without recourse to notes or consultations with 
     staff aides.
       The author of the Foreword of ``The Senate of the Roman 
     Republic'' has described the book and the lectures compiled 
     these as displaying ``vast learning, prodigious memory, and 
     single-minded determination.  .  .  .'' And so it is that 
     Senator Byrd has used his beautiful mind to accumulate vast 
     learning, to develop a prodigious memory, and to challenge 
     himself at all times with a single-minded determination.
       But it has not been his mind, or his learning, or his 
     memory that has endeared Senator Byrd to the people of West 
     Virginia. Their affection of him is attributable to his 
     public service and to his sincere interest in their lives and 
     concern for their welfare. No member of the United States 
     Congress or of the Senate of the Roman Republic has served 
     his other constituency with more distinction than has Senator 
     Byrd.
       We have talked about Senator Byrd's great mind, his 
     learning, his memory, his discipline, his determination, his 
     public service, and his interest in people, all superb 
     attributes of which we stand in awe. Yet there is one trait 
     which I have not mentioned. Senator Byrd referred to it in a 
     speech he gave last week on the floor of the Senate.
       After cajoling his colleagues that the business of the 
     Senate requires more than a three-day work week, Senator Byrd 
     said that he would just as soon be in the Senate ``as to be 
     at home on Saturday mopping the floor.'' ``Yes,'' Senator 
     Byrd said, ``I mop the bathroom. I mop the kitchen floor. I 
     mop the utility room. I vacuum. I dust. I even clean the 
     commodes around my house.'' Add then Senator Byrd added, ``It 
     is good for me. It keeps me humble.''
       Humility is the eighth, and perhaps the finest, 
     characteristic of our Senator Byrd. And so I implore, you, 
     our guest science campers, to use your good minds with 
     humility. If mopping floors will help you to be humble, then 
     mop floors.
       Senator Byrd has been a long-time supporter of the National 
     Youth Science Camp in West Virginia and has sponsored this 
     luncheon for many years. Will you please join with me in 
     applauding Senator Byrd as a way of expressing our gratitude.

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