11/18/2009 8:54:00 AM Byrd becomes longest-serving Congress member
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Senate is a resolutely superlative place, so it was resolved that the august body on Wednesday will open its session by saluting Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Congress' longest-serving member.
"United States senators, like baseball fans, love statistics," the West Virginia Democrat, who turns 92 on Friday, observed during a 1986 floor speech.
"From time to time, we stop to congratulate colleagues on their years of service, the number of votes they have cast, their tenure in a committee chairmanship," he continued. "In this vast array of statistics, some record-holders stand out from the others."
Byrd was paying tribute at the time to former Majority Leader Mike Mansfield. But on Nov. 18, it's Byrd's turn.
"I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days," Byrd said in a statement marking the occasion.
Here are some of Byrd's statistics: He was already married to his beloved Erma for nearly four years when Thanksgiving was deemed a federal holiday in 1941. He began his political career four years later as a member of West Virginia's House of Delegates. He remains the only member of Congress to earn a law degree while a member of the federal legislature, according to his Web site.
Erma passed away three years ago. Byrd says her absence at this milestone is his only regret.
"I know that she is looking down from the heavens smiling at me and saying congratulations my dear Robert - but don't let it go to your head," Byrd said.
Setting records, though, is old news to the white-maned lawmaker. Since June 12, 2006, Byrd has been the longest-serving senator and later that year was elected to an unprecedented ninth term. His colleagues have elected him to more leadership positions than any senator in history. He has cast more than 18,000 votes and, despite fragile health that has kept him from the Senate floor during much of the year, has a nearly 98 percent attendance record over the course of his career.
Which, by Byrd's count, has spanned 20,774 days. On Wednesday, Byrd's service ties the record set by Sen. Carl Hayden, D-Ariz., who served from 1912 to 1969.
