The colleagues of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-West Virginia, honored him with various comments Wednesday on the Senate floor. When the session began at shortly after 9:30 a.m., the 91-year-old Byrd became the longest serving member in the history of the U.S. Congress.
"He just realized one more unparalleled accomplishment," Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
Kentucky Senator and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Byrd has persevered. "In a long life he has known his share of hardships and triumphs, but he has run the race as if to win and he's still at it," McConnell said.
Ray Smock, director of Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University, said Tuesday on MetroNews Talkline that records are made to be broken, but topping Senator Byrd would be difficult. "There have been 11-thousand House members and 18-hundred and 99 Senators and none of them have served longer than Robert C. Byrd," Smock said.
Byrd's longtime colleague in the Senate, Senator Jay Rockefeller, said during his speech that it's never changed with Byrd; he's always been about West Virginia and its people. "It has always rung true whether it is his 50th birthday or in fact his 92nd birthday, whether he was a freshman in the House or the Senate's longest serving member," Rockefeller said.
Smock says Byrd, who turns 92 on Friday, is perfect for the Senate. "He is such a creature of the institution of the Senate, he just loves his service there. And the longer it goes the more he likes it I think," Smock said.
