Remembering Senator Robert C. Byrd

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to my friend and dear colleague, Senator Robert C. Byrd, who left us on Monday, June 28, 2010 at the age of 92. Senator Byrd was the longest serving member of the Senate. It is noteworthy that he was sworn in as a U.S. Senator on January 3, 1959, the same day Alaska was admitted as the 49th State.

How does one do justice to a life as full, as human, as authentic, as uniquely American as that of Senator Byrd's in just a few minutes? Born in poverty, a self-described foster son of an impoverished coal miner, a product of a two-room schoolhouse, he went on to walk with kings, to meet with prime ministers, and to debate with Presidents. Only in America could one come so far from so little. His is a textbook case of American exceptionalism.

Robert C. Byrd was a man of principle who was unwavering in his priorities. The Lord came first, his family second, and then the business of West Virginia and Nation. Senator Byrd was remarkable in that he could juggle all of these obligations with apparent ease.

He was a man who carried the Constitution in his breast pocket, closest to his heart. A fierce protector of the prerogatives of the Senate, he frequently recalled that the Congress is mentioned in the Constitution before the Executive. He once remarked, ``I am not the President's man. I am a Senate man.''

So many of our colleagues take delight in this quote from The Almanac of American Politics and it bears repeating. The Almanac described Senator Byrd as the one among us who ``may come closest to the kind of senator the Founding Fathers had in mind than any other.''

On the occasion of his 90th birthday, Senator Ted Stevens referred to Senator Byrd as a ``symbol of the Senate,'' adding that, ``No man has taught the Senate more than Robert C. Byrd.''

Senator Byrd made it his personal responsibility to educate new Senators in the history and traditions of the Senate and to mentor us along. He made a real difference in my orientation to the Senate. His statesmanship was an inspiration to me. It was an inspiration to all of us.

As contentious as our debates may seem, as partisan as we often seem to the American public, the Senate prefers to regard itself as a family. Yes, a family that fights, but a family nonetheless.

Senator Stevens once observed, ``As part of the Senate family, Senator Byrd is not only a gentleman, he has been a person who has reached out to us in personal times as well.''

I came to know that well after I injured my leg in a skiing accident last year. For a period of time I had to navigate the Senate floor in a wheelchair. The Senate floor is not exactly wheelchair friendly, but Senator Byrd had adapted to the challenge. One day, as we were going to the floor to vote, our wheelchairs met and we reached out to hold hands as we wheeled our chairs to the well of the Senate.

Like Ted, I loved Robert C. Byrd. Yet I regret that I never had the opportunity to enjoy the close friendship that my colleague Ted Stevens did.

Yes, they had their spats, but Senator Stevens and Senator Byrd regarded each other as family. Senator Stevens' daughter Lily referred to Senator Byrd as an uncle. Senator Byrd published in the Congressional Record excerpts from Lily's senior thesis from Stanford, ``The Message of the Dome: The United States Capitol in the Popular Media.''

Senator Stevens began working with Senator Byrd in 1968. In 1972, they joined each other on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Both served as President pro tempore of the Senate, a position reserved for the most senior Member of the Senate in the majority party. Yet as Senator Byrd liked to note, Ted was a relative youngster.

Working together on a bipartisan basis, Ted Stevens helped Robert Byrd lift West Virginia out of poverty. And Senator Byrd demonstrated great empathy for Senator Stevens' crusade to end the third-world conditions that plague Alaska's Native people in the more than more than 230 traditional villages of rural Alaska. Like the West Virginia of Robert Byrd's childhood, rural Alaska lacked the sorts of infrastructure that the rest of America takes for granted--lack of road infrastructure, a lack of basic sanitation facilities, unreliable electricity, and unemployment.

This may explain why Senator Byrd was greatly sympathetic to Senator Stevens' crusade to bring indoor plumbing to rural Alaska, to eliminate the honeybucket. Alaska's Denali Commission was modeled closely after the Appalachian Regional Commission, which Senator Byrd championed for decades.

Ted Stevens and Robert Byrd worked together to make things better for the people of rural Alaska. Our Native people deeply appreciate the Alaska legacy of Robert C. Byrd.

On the occasion of Senator Stevens' farewell from the Senate in 2008, a tearful Robert C. Byrd came to the Senate floor and said this ``Politics is a rough business, with lots of highs and lots of lows. After a long time in politics, I come to understand that the point of it all is helping people. Thank God we will be judged in the next world by the good we do in this world.''

On Monday, our dear friend, Senator Byrd, joined his beloved wife Erma in Heaven, where he will be judged by all of the good he has done for his Lord, his family, the people of West Virginia, and the Nation. I will miss him greatly.

On behalf of Alaska's people, I extend my condolences to Senator Byrd's daughters Mona and Marjorie, his five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, to the people of West Virginia, and to all who knew and loved this great American.

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