ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a fiery orator versed in the classics and a hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to the state of his Depression-era upbringing, died Monday. He was 92.
A spokesman for the family, Jesse Jacobs said Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. His health had been failing for several years.
Byrd, a Democrat, was the longest-serving senator in history, holding his seat for more than 50 years. He was the Senate’s majority leader for six of those years and was third in the line of succession to the presidency, behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In comportment and style, Byrd often seemed a Senate throwback to a courtlier 19th century. He could recite poetry, quote the Bible, discuss the Constitutional Convention and detail the Peloponnesian Wars – and frequently did in Senate debates.
Yet there was nothing particularly courtly about Byrd’s pursuit or exercise of power.
Byrd was a master of the Senate’s bewildering rules and longtime chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls a third of the $3 trillion federal budget. He was willing to use both to reward friends and punish those he viewed as having slighted him.
Corker Statement on Passing of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd
U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., made the following statement regarding the passing today of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, 92, of West Virginia, who was the nation’s longest-serving U.S. senator and member of Congress.
“Senator Byrd was a Senate institution. One of the body’s great historians, he secured his own place in Senate history,” Corker said. “I’m sure all new senators remember the first time they met Bob Byrd – a rite of passage – and I appreciated his warm welcome. My thoughts are with his family, his staff and many Senate friends, and the people of his beloved West Virginia.”
Alexander Statement on Sen. Robert Byrd
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today made the following statement on the passing of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.):
“Robert Byrd was the Senate’s foremost defender of unlimited debate and the right to amend as a guarantor of minority rights. One of his last appearances was at a hearing of the Rules Committee on May 19th, when he argued against changing the Senate rules that he had mastered better than anyone in its history. The Senate will miss his wise leadership and I will miss his counsel and friendship.”
Chambliss Statement on the Passing of Sen. Robert Byrd
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., today made the following statement regarding Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.
“It is with sadness that I note the passing of Sen. Robert Byrd. Sen. Byrd had the greatest respect for the rules and traditions of this institution, and he defended them vocally and passionately. He was a man of the Senate, and he will be missed. Every time I spoke to Sen. Byrd, he never failed to tell me that his favorite senator of all time was Sen. Richard B. Russell of Georgia. I extend my deepest sympathies to Sen. Byrd’s family.”