[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12822-12824]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I join with my colleagues today to express 
my profound and heartfelt sadness on the passing of Senator Robert C. 
Byrd, as the U.S. Senate, the people of West Virginia, and our entire 
Nation mourn the loss of a giant of public service--a distinguished, 
iconic legislator whose life and legacy will forever be synonymous with 
the greatest deliberative body the world has ever known.
  Senator Byrd's counsel, wisdom, and knowledge of the Senate was 
unmatched and awe-inspiring. As the longest-serving Member of Congress 
and a former majority and minority leader of the Senate, Senator Byrd 
was time and again the conscience and champion of Congress and a 
vigorous and stalwart sentinel of the first branch of our government. 
Protector, steward, advocate, and guardian these descriptions only 
begin to convey Senator Byrd's lifelong commitment to the Senate in 
which he served for a record 51 years and an unprecedented nine terms.
  No one fought more to ensure the preservation of the U.S. Senate and 
its

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constitutional prerogatives than Senator Byrd. No one was more 
masterful in comprehending and harnessing the powers of parliamentary 
procedure in the upper Chamber. No one was fiercer in battling against 
any encroachments that would dilute or diminish the role of Congress as 
a coequal branch of government. And no one possessed greater command of 
Senate history and used it to better effect than Senator Byrd, who 
himself authored a four-volume history of the Senate.
  The same zeal with which Senator Byrd demonstrated his allegiance to 
the legislative branch was every bit as evident in his unshakable 
dedication to the U.S. Constitution itself--a pocket-sized copy of 
which he carried at all times. In fact, like many of my colleagues, I 
will never forget as a member of the ``Gang of 14,'' which was forged 
at a time when the very institution of the Senate was caught in the 
crosshairs of a struggle over judicial nominations, how each of us 
received a copy of the Constitution from Senator Byrd. With one 
symbolic gesture as only he could, Senator Byrd spoke volumes about the 
historic imperative that was ours to seize if we were to jettison the 
partisanship that threatened our Chamber.
  Senator Byrd's reverence for history stemmed of course from the 
premium he placed on education, and as much as anyone who ever occupied 
a seat in the Senate, Senator Byrd exemplified the American story of 
the self-made individual. During his remarkable trajectory from humble 
beginnings in the southern coalfields of West Virginia, Senator Byrd 
was an ardent believer in learning not only as the great equalizer in 
American life, but as a catalyst for personal and professional success. 
A self-educated man, Senator Byrd's knowledge of Shakespeare, the Holy 
Bible, and the pillars of thought from Ancient Greece and Rome formed 
the basis of an eloquence and service that will reverberate not only in 
the hallowed Halls of Congress, but also throughout his beloved home 
State--which he served so passionately--for generations to come.
  Indeed, his roots in West Virginia were ever-present and the 
indispensable lifeblood that spurred him to political and legislative 
heights that were the capstone of his landmark tenure in public 
service. Indisputably, he never forgot where he came from, and in fact, 
always remembered he stood on the shoulders of every West Virginian who 
sent him back to the U.S. Senate term after term. And as much as 
Senator Byrd revered Congress, the Constitution, and his fellow West 
Virginians, nowhere was his devotion greater than with his beloved 
Erma, his wife of nearly 69 years, and they now are finally together in 
their eternal resting place.
  As a Senator from Maine, it is only fitting that I pay tribute to 
Senator Byrd by citing the opening lines by the immortal American poet 
and Son of Maine, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, that I so often heard him 
quote from memory on the Senate floor . . . ``Thou, too, sail on, O 
Ship of State!/ Sail on, O Union, strong and great!/Humanity with all 
its fears, /With all the hopes of future years . . .'' Our Ship of 
State sails better for Senator Byrd's having lived, served, and led. 
But today, our Ship of State sails at a slower pace as we pause to pay 
our respects and mourn the loss of a man whose like we will never see 
again. The Senate will not be the same without the Senator from West 
Virginia, Robert C. Byrd.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to my 
friend and dear colleague, Senator Robert C. Byrd, who left us on 
Monday, June 28, 2010 at the age of 92. Senator Byrd was the longest 
serving member of the Senate. It is noteworthy that he was sworn in as 
a U.S. Senator on January 3, 1959, the same day Alaska was admitted as 
the 49th State.
  How does one do justice to a life as full, as human, as authentic, as 
uniquely American as that of Senator Byrd's in just a few minutes? Born 
in poverty, a self-described foster son of an impoverished coal miner, 
a product of a two-room schoolhouse, he went on to walk with kings, to 
meet with prime ministers, and to debate with Presidents. Only in 
America could one come so far from so little. His is a textbook case of 
American exceptionalism.
  Robert C. Byrd was a man of principle who was unwavering in his 
priorities. The Lord came first, his family second, and then the 
business of West Virginia and Nation. Senator Byrd was remarkable in 
that he could juggle all of these obligations with apparent ease.
  He was a man who carried the Constitution in his breast pocket, 
closest to his heart. A fierce protector of the prerogatives of the 
Senate, he frequently recalled that the Congress is mentioned in the 
Constitution before the Executive. He once remarked, ``I am not the 
President's man. I am a Senate man.''
  So many of our colleagues take delight in this quote from The Almanac 
of American Politics and it bears repeating. The Almanac described 
Senator Byrd as the one among us who ``may come closest to the kind of 
senator the Founding Fathers had in mind than any other.''
  On the occasion of his 90th birthday, Senator Ted Stevens referred to 
Senator Byrd as a ``symbol of the Senate,'' adding that, ``No man has 
taught the Senate more than Robert C. Byrd.''
  Senator Byrd made it his personal responsibility to educate new 
Senators in the history and traditions of the Senate and to mentor us 
along. He made a real difference in my orientation to the Senate. His 
statesmanship was an inspiration to me. It was an inspiration to all of 
us.
  As contentious as our debates may seem, as partisan as we often seem 
to the American public, the Senate prefers to regard itself as a 
family. Yes, a family that fights, but a family nonetheless.
  Senator Stevens once observed, ``As part of the Senate family, 
Senator Byrd is not only a gentleman, he has been a person who has 
reached out to us in personal times as well.''
  I came to know that well after I injured my leg in a skiing accident 
last year. For a period of time I had to navigate the Senate floor in a 
wheelchair. The Senate floor is not exactly wheelchair friendly, but 
Senator Byrd had adapted to the challenge. One day, as we were going to 
the floor to vote, our wheelchairs met and we reached out to hold hands 
as we wheeled our chairs to the well of the Senate.
  Like Ted, I loved Robert C. Byrd. Yet I regret that I never had the 
opportunity to enjoy the close friendship that my colleague Ted Stevens 
did.
  Yes, they had their spats, but Senator Stevens and Senator Byrd 
regarded each other as family. Senator Stevens' daughter Lily referred 
to Senator Byrd as an uncle. Senator Byrd published in the 
Congressional Record excerpts from Lily's senior thesis from Stanford, 
``The Message of the Dome: The United States Capitol in the Popular 
Media.''
  Senator Stevens began working with Senator Byrd in 1968. In 1972, 
they joined each other on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Both 
served as President pro tempore of the Senate, a position reserved for 
the most senior Member of the Senate in the majority party. Yet as 
Senator Byrd liked to note, Ted was a relative youngster.
  Working together on a bipartisan basis, Ted Stevens helped Robert 
Byrd lift West Virginia out of poverty. And Senator Byrd demonstrated 
great empathy for Senator Stevens' crusade to end the third-world 
conditions that plague Alaska's Native people in the more than more 
than 230 traditional villages of rural Alaska. Like the West Virginia 
of Robert Byrd's childhood, rural Alaska lacked the sorts of 
infrastructure that the rest of America takes for granted--lack of road 
infrastructure, a lack of basic sanitation facilities, unreliable 
electricity, and unemployment.
  This may explain why Senator Byrd was greatly sympathetic to Senator 
Stevens' crusade to bring indoor plumbing to rural Alaska, to eliminate 
the honeybucket. Alaska's Denali Commission was modeled closely after 
the Appalachian Regional Commission, which Senator Byrd championed for 
decades.
  Ted Stevens and Robert Byrd worked together to make things better for 
the

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people of rural Alaska. Our Native people deeply appreciate the Alaska 
legacy of Robert C. Byrd.
  On the occasion of Senator Stevens' farewell from the Senate in 2008, 
a tearful Robert C. Byrd came to the Senate floor and said this 
``Politics is a rough business, with lots of highs and lots of lows. 
After a long time in politics, I come to understand that the point of 
it all is helping people. Thank God we will be judged in the next world 
by the good we do in this world.''
  On Monday, our dear friend, Senator Byrd, joined his beloved wife 
Erma in Heaven, where he will be judged by all of the good he has done 
for his Lord, his family, the people of West Virginia, and the Nation. 
I will miss him greatly.
  On behalf of Alaska's people, I extend my condolences to Senator 
Byrd's daughters Mona and Marjorie, his five grandchildren and seven 
great-grandchildren, to the people of West Virginia, and to all who 
knew and loved this great American.

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