Byrd, Robert C. (Robert Carlyle), 1917-2010

<p>In every corner of West Virginia, the people of the Mountain State knew that there was one man on whom they could always depend: U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd. He always remained true to his faith and his family, while he worked to build a better future for his state and his country.</p>

<p>In the Senate, Robert Byrd worked for the people — better jobs; health care that is affordable and close to home; a good future for our children and grandchildren. Each day in the Senate, Robert Byrd focused on building a brighter future for the Mountain State.</p>

<p>Over the years, thousands of new jobs have been created because of Senator Byrd’s initiatives. New industries have taken root — biometrics; aerospace research; advanced manufacturing; computer research; defense innovations. Traditional industries — coal and energy, chemicals, steel — continued to serve as the economic backbone of West Virginian communities.</p>

<p>Byrd’s efforts didn’t stop with new industry and economic opportunity. He worked hard to expand access to health care for tens of thousands of West Virginians. The Health Sciences Center and the Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center, both at West Virginia University, the Center for Rural Health at Marshall University, and the West Virginia School for Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg are utilizing innovation to bring doctors and nurses closer to people in rural West Virginia. Specialized treatments, created in the Mountain State through Byrd’s Senate work, ensure that West Virginians do not have to drive out of state for cutting-edge health care.</p>

<p>In the halls of Congress, Robert C. Byrd was best known for his fierce defense of the Constitution and the institution of the Senate. The Almanac of American Politics has stated that Byrd “may come closer to the kind of senator the Founding Fathers had in mind than any other.” Senators from both parties have paid tribute to Byrd’s devotion to the Constitution. He endeavored to make sure that the wisdom of the Constitution’s Framers is not forgotten and that the people’s liberties were protected.</p>

<p>On June 11, 2006, Byrd became the longest serving U.S. Senator in the history of our Nation and, in November 2006, he was elected to an unprecedented ninth full term in the Senate. On November 18, 2009 Senator Byrd became the longest serving Member of Congress in the history of our Republic, having served 20,996 days. (Though just a few years later, on June 7, 2013, Representative John Dingell (D-MI) surpassed this record). During his tenure, his colleagues elected him to more leadership positions than any other Senator in history. Throughout his career, Byrd cast 18,689 roll call votes ‑‑ an amazing 97 percent attendance record in his nearly five decades of service in the Senate.</p>

<p>Growing up in Raleigh County, Byrd not only learned the values that have guided him in his life, but that is where he also met his life’s love, Erma Ora James. They both attended Mark Twain High School and married shortly after graduation in 1937. For nearly 69 years, the Byrds were inseparable, traveling the hills and hollows of West Virginia and crossing the globe together. Mrs. Byrd passed away on March 25, 2006 after battling a long illness.</p>

<p>Robert Byrd could not afford college. In fact, his diploma from Marshall University would have to wait until 60 years after high school, when Senator Byrd was 77 years old. In between high school and his undergraduate degree, though, Byrd enrolled in law school and, after ten years of classes taken while also serving as a Member of Congress, Senator Byrd earned his law degree from American University in 1963.</p>

<p>Knowing the importance of education, Senator Byrd has helped thousands of young people earn their own college diploma. Through the Scholastic Recognition Award, which the Senator started in 1969, the valedictorian at each West Virginia public and private high school received a savings bond and a special congratulations from the Senator. Then, in 1985, Byrd launched the first and only federal merit‑based scholarship. Since its inception, tens of thousands of students across the country have helped to pay their tuition bills through this unique initiative.</p>

<p>If his West Virginia values defined Senator Byrd, then the Constitution of the United States gave him a foundation to fight for liberty and freedom. Always close to his heart, the Constitution guided Byrd. Its words and wisdom served as the foundation for his fierce defense of principle and of the people’s liberties. It did not matter from where the danger came. If the people’s freedoms were jeopardized, if the Constitution’s delicate balance was threatened, one found Senator Robert Byrd leading the defense.</p>

<p>From his humble beginnings to the halls of power, Robert Byrd never forgot where he came from or where he was going. He was a statesman, a patriot, a defender of the Constitution, a proud son of West Virginia, and one of the most important leaders in America.</p>

<p>Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd previously served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959. He is the longest-serving U.S. Senator in history, was the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress, until surpassed by Representative John Dingell of Michigan; the last remaining member of the U.S. Senate to have served during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower; and the last remaining member of Congress to have served during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Byrd is also the only West Virginian to have served in both chambers of the state legislature and both chambers of Congress.</p>

<p>Byrd served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1947 to 1950, and the West Virginia State Senate from 1950 to 1952. Initially elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1952, Byrd served there for six years before being elected to the Senate in 1958. He rose to become one of the Senate's most powerful members, serving as secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus from 1967 to 1971 and— after defeating his longtime colleague, Ted Kennedy— as Senate Majority Whip from 1971 to 1977. Over the next three decades, Byrd led the Democratic caucus in numerous roles depending on whether his party held control of the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, President pro tempore of the United States Senate and President pro tempore emeritus. As President pro tempore—a position he held four times in his career— he was third in the line of presidential succession, after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.</p>

<p>Serving three different tenures as Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations enabled Byrd to steer a great deal of federal money toward projects in West Virginia. Critics derided his efforts as pork barrel spending, while Byrd argued that the many federal projects he worked to bring to West Virginia represented progress for the people of his state. He filibustered against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and supported the Vietnam War, but later renounced racism and segregation, and spoke in opposition to the Iraq War. Renowned for his knowledge of Senate precedent and parliamentary procedure, Byrd wrote a four-volume history of the Senate in later life.</p>

<p>BYRD, ROBERT CARLYLE, a Representative and a Senator from West Virginia; born in North Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, N.C., November 20, 1917; attended West Virginia public schools; student at Beckley College, Concord College, Morris Harvey College, and Marshall College, all in West Virginia, and George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C.; graduated, American University Law School 1963; received Bachelor's degree in political science from Marshall University 1994; member of the West Virginia house of delegates 1947-1950; member of the West Virginia senate 1951-1952, resigning when elected to Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-third, Eighty-fourth, and Eighty-fifth Congresses (January 3, 1953-January 3, 1959); elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1958 for the term commencing January 3, 1959, and served from January 3, 1959, until his death; reelected in 1964, 1970, 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000, and again in 2006 for the term ending January 3, 2013; Secretary, Senate Democratic Conference 1967-1971; Democratic whip 1971-1977; Majority Leader and Democratic caucus chairman 1977-1980, 1987-1988; Minority Leader and Democratic caucus chairman 1981-1986; chair, Democratic Policy Committee 1977-1989; President pro tempore (1989-1995, June 6, 2001-January 3, 2003, 2007-June 28, 2010); chair, Committee on Appropriations (One Hundred First through One Hundred Third Congresses; One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 3-20, 2001; June 6, 2001-January 3, 2003]; One Hundred Tenth Congress); died June 28, 2010; lay in repose in the Senate Chamber July 1, 2010; interment in Columbia Gardens Cemetery, Arlington, Va.</p>