Congratulating Senator Robert C. Byrd on Casting his 17,000th Vote

CONGRATULATING SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD ON CASTING HIS 17,000TH VOTE

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I, too, rise to bring the attention of the Senate to a historic occasion. Those who are witnessing this debate may not realize that they are seeing a moment in the history of the United States of America that is not likely to be repeated.

Our colleague, the distinguished and senior Senator from West Virginia, ROBERT C. BYRD, has just cast his 17,000th vote in this body. I do not rise today to bring any embarrassment to my colleague. I am honored to call him friend. I rise to congratulate and honor him, and to note the historical span of his service to our country.

On January 8, 1959, Senator Byrd cast his first vote in the Senate. Fittingly, it was a vote on Senate procedure. He has since become a master of the rules of the Senate. When Senator Byrd rises and raises a parliamentary point, a hush falls over this Chamber, respectful of the fact that this man from West Virginia knows more about the procedure and rules of the Senate than any person.

On April 27, 1990, Senator Byrd cast his 12,134th vote earning him the record for the greatest number of rollcall votes in Senate history.

On May 5, 1998, he became the first Senator in history to cast 15,000 votes.

Let us put this in historic context. When Senator Byrd cast his first vote, Senators John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were in the Chamber with him and Richard Nixon was the Presiding Officer of the body. When he cast his first vote, Hawaii had not yet become a State and the United States had not yet launched a man into space. When he cast his first vote, a state-of-the-art computer would have taken up half the space of this Chamber and had roughly the same amount of computing power as today's Palm Pilot.

Senator Byrd has served with 11 Presidents-and I underline the word "with" because Senator Byrd makes it clear that he has never served under any President.

He brings to mind often the words of the Constitution which give equality to the branches of Government.

He has been a candidate for election. As he said, he stood before the bar of public opinion 11 different times, 8 times as a candidate for the Senate and 3 times as a candidate for the House. And he has never lost.

Senator Byrd has served in the Senate as majority leader and held more leadership positions in the Senate than any other Senator in the history of the United States. He has chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which I am honored to serve, and currently serves as the panel's ranking member. He has earned his place as the unrivaled expert on Senate rules and he has become perhaps the most popular political figure in his home State of West Virginia. He was named "West Virginian of the Century" by the residents of his home State. What greater honor could they give him.

As of this Friday, Senator Byrd will have served, if my calculation is correct, 18,716 days in Congress, 51 years, 3 months, and 2 days. Of the 11,708 individuals who have served in Congress, only 2 have served longer: Carl Hayden of Arizona for 56 years and Representative Jamie Whitten of Mississippi for 53 years.

Senator Byrd will become the longest serving Member on June 11, 2006. He has cast more rollcall votes than any other Senator in history. Strom Thurmond ranks No. 2 with 16,348 votes.

We are all privileged to have served in this body. Few Senators in the history of this institution have had such a command of both the nature and nuance of Senate debate as ROBERT C. BYRD of West Virginia, and few, if any, spanning the entire history of this body have had such a reservoir of knowledge, from Roman and Greek history to the deliberations of the Founding Fathers to hundreds, maybe even thousands, of poems which Senator Byrd has committed to memory.

Perhaps it is through his love of poetry that I have gained a deeper understanding of my colleague. President Kennedy once said:

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.

That is a magnificent quote which pays tribute to a man who has integrated poetry into his entire life. But if we were to end there when it comes to procedure and poetry, we would not tell the story of this great man's service.

His is not just poetry when it comes to service in the Senate. It is also powerful prose. It is not just his eloquence but his integrity. Those of us who serve with him know that during the most recent debate on the invasion of Iraq, one voice in the Senate was heard above all others. This man, after many years of service, has not forgotten his responsibility to this Nation and the people he represents. He stood up and took controversial, difficult positions and did them with the kind of force and power which won friends for him far and wide.

I have told this story before but it bears repeating. When I went to a Catholic parish in Chicago with my wife and we had come back from communion and were kneeling down, an elderly fellow walked up to me in the midst of the Iraqi debate and leaned over and said, "Stick with Senator Byrd."

I came back to tell him that. His fans are far and wide, in Chicago, West Virginia, and across the United States of America, because time and again he spoke the truth and did it in a way that touched the hearts of Americans far and wide.

He is an inspiration to all of us who have been honored to serve with him. He brings to this body the kind of decorum, the kind of integrity, and the kind of commitment to which all of us aspire.

For all of his great and varied achievements, Senator Byrd shows his dedication and humiliation not by wielding his power like a club but by performing the most basic requirement of a Senator more times than any other Senator in history. I wish to recognize and honor the senior Senator from West Virginia for the quality as well as for the quantity of his service. It is entirely fitting that this noted lover of history today makes history himself. My commendation and congratulations to ROBERT C. BYRD of West Virginia.

I yield the floor.