Posted on 06/12/2006 4:14:03 PM PDT by new yorker 77
Senator Robert Byrd, 88, one of Congress's most eloquent and outspoken critics of the US military presence in Iraq, became the US Senate's longest-serving member.
The frail octogenarian who hobbles through the corridors of the Senate with the aid of a cane in each hand was first elected to the legislature's upper chamber in 1958.
Known for his florid oratory, in recent years he has given numerous speeches from the Senate floor against the upward spiraling cost of rebuilding Iraq and the US motives for invading that country.
He has represented the eastern coal-mining state of West Virginia the Senate for the last 48 years, after having first served for six years in the US House of Representatives.
The Senate's white-haired elder statesman -- already the oldest member of Congress -- eclipsed the record held by Republican Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.
He has held several of the Senate's most powerful posts, including chairman of the Appropriations Committee which controls the US purse strings, and president pro tempore, the US official in line to succeed the US president after the vice president and the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Even the leader of Republicans in the highly partisan Senate, Bill Frist, felt compelled to pay tribute to the prominent Democrat Monday.
"Robert Byrd long ago cemented his place in history as a champion of higher education and an outspoken proponent for investing in domestic infrastructure," Frist said in a statement.
"I have always admired his legislative statesmanship. Hes a true Senate icon. It's a tribute to his effectiveness that hes reached this landmark."
Byrd's political legacy has been tainted, however, by his membership long ago in the Ku Klux Klan, a stepping stone for his political career which he later called a mistake of his youth.
A Democrat, Byrd, who has never lost an election, is expected to be reelected in November to a record-setting ninth six-year term against Republican John Raese, a West Virginia businessman.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
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Senator "sheets" alert!
Senator Byrd is the best argument I can think of for term limits.
Congratulations to the longest serving Kleagle in Senate history!
The Grand Cyclops or Dragon or whatever he is must be proud.
This coming from cat killer Frist extolling a bigot with a brain strongly resembling Swiss cheese.
What is Frist's problem now? Celebrating how long that old Klukker's presence has stained the Senate?
Byrd's membership was a "mistake" of his youth,huh? What about all of his votes AGAINST civil rights? They were just...mistakes of middle age?
He hasn't been a KKK member in over half a century. Throwing this "sheets" crap at him is retarded.
Of course it is. Everyone know that you can only do that to a Republican.
Pretty, pretty, pretty...
Senator Byrd, the K-K-K-Conscience of the Senate.
It's not retarded if he's never come clean. But the point is that you don't have to answer for your past if you're a democrat.
"What about all of his votes AGAINST civil rights? They were just...mistakes of middle age?"
Oh c'mon now...surely you're not going to judge the man by the company he kept, or the votes he cast for more than a decade? What's important is that he hates Bush.
He's admitted it and regretted it.
If that's good enough for you, you can have him.
I hear you.
Oh, please. Do you think a Republican with Byrd's Klan past would be in the Senate?
Kennedy and Kerry are equally good reasons for term limits.
I'd say pretty much the whole Senate is good reason for term limits, with very few excepitons. As for those exceptions it would be worth it to lose them if we could get rid of the rest of the princes and princesses along with them.
He is now and always will be a Klan member at heart.
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