Tribute to Senator Robert C. Byrd

Floor Speech

TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD -- (Senate - June 21, 2007)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to join Senator Reid, and all of my colleagues, in congratulating Senator Robert Byrd on reaching yet another historic milestone in his lifetime of public service.

To have the privilege of casting even one vote in the U.S. Senate is an honor. To cast 18,000 votes in this Senate is a legend.

It is a feat that has never been achieved before, and very likely never will be again.

His 18,000 votes in this Senate are more than a singular statistic. They are yet another measure of ROBERT C. BYRD'S lifetime of devotion to his state, our Nation, this institution, and to the U.S. Constitution.

Senator Byrd is, of course, a great student of history--and the author of the definitive work on the history of the U.S. Senate. In fact, one could say that ROBERT C. BYRD is Senate history.

Think about this: In addition to being the only Senator ever to cast 18,000 votes, Senator Byrd is also the first U.S. Senator ever to cast 15,000 votes.

Senator Byrd has served with--not under, with--11 Presidents.

He has served as majority leader and held more leadership positions than any Senator in history.

To help put the length of his service in perspective, consider a few facts: When Senator Byrd cast his first vote in the Senate--on January 8, 1959 his colleagues included Senators John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Vice President Richard Nixon was the presiding officer. Hawaii was not yet a state. And a state-of-the-art computer would have taken up half of the space of this Chamber and had roughly the same amount of computing power as a Palm Pilot.

Today, Senator Byrd is a hero among bloggers and so many others because of his unyielding dedication to our Constitution and his obvious love of our Nation and the principles for which it stands.

He is the unrivaled expert on Senate rules.

He has been a candidate for election 12 times--9 times as a candidate for the U.S. Senate and 3 times as a candidate for the U.S. House. He won every time.

And he has become perhaps the most popular political figure in West Virginia history. He was named West Virginian of the Century by the residents of his home State.

It is an honor to serve with this giant of Senate history, and to share with him this milestone. Again, I commend him and congratulate him.

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