[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12047]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF SENATOR BYRD

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I was detained when my 
colleagues were on the floor of the House paying tribute to Senator 
Byrd and did not want this time to go without acknowledging my deep 
sympathy to his family and to my good friend from West Virginia and to 
acknowledge how special this man was to the institution we call 
Congress and to the freedom that this Nation stands for.
  I cannot account for my personal encounters with Senator Byrd, but I 
can tell you, as someone who respects and loves this institution, what 
a man who understood the Constitution and rules that were not for 
selfish reasons, to keep people from being in power, but really it was 
to empower people.
  He had no qualms in standing up against Presidential authority that 
was wrong in the Iraq War. He had no qualms in fighting to ensure that 
resources came to his great State. He loved the institution. He was a 
holder of knowledge, and what we will lose with his passing is that 
special sensitivity to the rules and to the responsibility we have to 
not play politics with this institution. We are here to serve America, 
and Senator Byrd did serve America.
  May God rest his soul and may he rest in peace. Senator Byrd, we will 
miss you.

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