Posted on 06/28/2010 2:24:02 PM PDT by presidio9
Robert C. Byrd, the Senate's longest-serving member whose fierce reverence for the institution made him a living legend, has died at the age of 92.
The West Virginia Democrat, who was also legendary for using his seniority to steer billions of federal dollars to his state, died early Monday at a suburban Virginia hospital, a family spokesman said.
Flags at the Capitol, White House and other federal buildings were lowered to half-staff in tribute to Byrd, the Senate's president pro tem, who was third in line to the presidency after Vice President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. His desk in the Senate chamber was draped in black and adorned with a bouquet of roses when the Senate went into session Monday.
"Sen. Byrd was the anchor of the Senate," said Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "There will never be another like him."
Byrd's death complicates passage of the landmark financial regulation reform bill President Obama hoped to sign before the Fourth of July congressional recess beginning Friday. Without Byrd's vote Democrats are at least one vote short of the 60 needed to thwart a Republican-led filibuster against the bill.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, will appoint a successor, but it isn't clear how quickly that replacement will be seated or whether a special election will be held to fill out the remainder of Byrd's term, which ends Jan. 3, 2013.
Byrd began his public career as an unabashed conservative and was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s. He renounced his brief KKK tenure as a youthful indiscretion, but in 1964 led a filibuster of the Civil Rights Act.
Over the years he moderated his political philosophy, becoming a close friend of such liberal lions as Sen. Edward Kennedy. He was a strong opponent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A fiery orator, Constitutional scholar and self-professed "hillbilly," Byrd had been in failing health for several years and often appeared in a wheelchair in the Senate chamber to add to his record of more than 18,500 votes cast.
Elected to an unprecedented ninth consecutive Senate term in 2006, Byrd was not only the longest-serving senator but the longest-serving member in congressional history. Before his Senate service, he served three terms in the House of Representatives.
He was a senator longer than 10 of his colleagues or President Obama have been alive.
"He held the deepest respect of members of both parties, and he was generous with his time and advice, something I appreciated greatly as a young senator," Obama said in a statement.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer eulogized Byrd as "one of the last and one of the best of the old school."
"I had the privilege to hear him at one of his last appearances when he came before the Senate Rules Committee to discourse on the filibuster just one month ago," Schumer added. "As always, his statement was passionate, erudite, balanced and electrified the room. It's a moment no one who was there will forget.
"No member knew the Senate rules better or loved the body more than Robert C. Byrd. We miss him already."
Secretary of State Clinton called Byrd "a man of surpassing eloquence and nobility" and recalled that after the 9/11 attacks, Byrd approached then-Sen. Clinton and told her, "Think of me as the third senator from New York."
Byrd was a parliamentary genius whose knowledge of the Senate's arcane and complex rules made him a powerful and effective majority leader for six years.
Later, his chairmanship of the powerful Appropriations Committee ensured a steady stream of federal pork to West Virginia. Dozens of those roads, courthouses, public works projects and federal centers bear his name.
They claim to be:
So here's a link to their section on politicians who were in the KKK: Graveyard: Ku Klux Klan, politiciansThe Internet's Most Comprehensive Source of U.S. Political Biography,
or,
The Web Site That Tells Where the Dead Politicians are Buried
Notice a trend? Not that this would surprise anyone here.
Anyway, an interesting website to check out concerning past politicians.
“Cute the way the author equates conservatism with Klan membership.”
The Marxists infesting universities have been writing revisionist history like that for years. The people who started the KKK are “conservatives.” The democrats who imposed Jim Crow were “conservatives.” The democrats who manned the hoses at Selma were “conservatives.” And now the idiot scribblers in the propaganda press are picking up the lie. Next it will spread to public schools.
the anchor of the Senate..
High Praise from the ‘millstone of the Senate’
Where was Byrd’s military service resume from WWII. Another Rat draft dodger like slick Willy?
....and his family...on his website...and you wonder why he supported zero.....
Senator Byrd has been blessed with a loving family, including two daughters, Mrs. Mohammad (Mona Byrd) Fatemi and Mrs. Jon (Marjorie Byrd) Moore; six grandchildren: Erik, Darius, and Fredrik Fatemi; Michael Moore (deceased), Mona Byrd Moore Pearson, and Mary Anne Moore Clarkson; five great granddaughters: Caroline Byrd Fatemi; Kathryn James Fatemi, and Anna Cristina Honora Fatemi; Emma James Clarkson and Hannah Byrd Clarkson; and two great grandsons, Michael Yoo Fatemi and James Matthew Fatemi.
I like to think that many years ago there was a place in the afterlife reserved for him.
I like to think that many years ago there was a place in the afterlife reserved for him.
Crook!
Wow. What a damning indictment.
I'm just curious.
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