Published: November 19, 2009 07:12 am      

Senator honored

Byrd becomes longest-serving member of Congress

CHARLESTON -- For a man who once cut meat in a coalfields grocery store, Robert C. Byrd has come a long, long way -- and by all accounts, his odyssey in life has a few more miles to go.

Byrd's illustrious career as a legislator that thrust him to the pinnacle of political success came in for special honors Wednesday on the very day he set the record for 56 years, 320 days as the longest-serving member of Congress.

At the West Virginia Capitol, several hundred people gathered in the upper rotunda to pay tribute to him, two days shy of his 92nd birthday.

In the lower rotunda, memorabilia filled glass cases and a special metal enclosure, decorated with photographs covering his political life and stuffed with red, white and blue balloons.

Gov. Joe Manchin set the tone for the colorful ceremony, saying, "We gather to honor a man who is a strong moral compass with an outstanding character. What a remarkable national milestone we are celebrating today."�

"The truth is that Sen. Byrd has always been there for West Virginia families and anybody that needed help,"� the governor said.

"The people of the Mountain State trust and have confidence in Sen. Byrd. We always have and we always will."�

Speakers provided anecdotal memories of their associations with the senator, who arrived in the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 3, 1953.

Six years later, he won a Senate seat and never looked back, dusting off every challenger who entered the ring.

"Length of service is important,"� Charleston attorney Ned Rose observed.

"We honor Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron not only because they were great baseball players but because they were spectacular baseball players for a long, long time."�

Rose described Byrd as a man with "a brilliant mind, a prodigious memory and the benefit of recollections of a long life of lessons learned."�

"He has focused ambition and always works hard,"� he said. "Sen. Byrd never goofs off."�

His longtime state director, Anne Barth, recalled Byrd's hardscrabble poverty as the adopted son of a West Virginia coal miner.

As a schoolboy, he learned lessons by kerosene lamp, and once he acquired a fiddle, he dreamed of become a classic musician.

Instead, he turned to bluegrass, and the popular music of the hills endeared him to West Virginians, helping him snare many a vote.

Even in those difficult times, she said, Byrd had ambitions.

"It was there he began to carve out his version of the American dream,"� she said.

Both houses of the Legislature honored Byrd with special resolutions, read by Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, and House Speaker Rick Thompson, D-Wayne.

Byrd is the only West Virginian to serve in both chambers of the Legislature and both houses of Congress.

The ceremony was staged in front of a huge, life-like statue of Byrd, and Tomblin quipped, "You'll note it's on the Senate side of the well."�

Adding a touch of patriotism, a handler kept in tow a bald eagle that often fluttered in futile escape attempts, causing those closest to the American symbol to draw back.

"I'm hoping those straps are tight,"� Manchin joked.

Just how long Byrd intends to stay on is anyone's guess.

But Ray Smock, director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, said the senator provided some insight four years ago with the release of his 817-page autobiography.

"I call it Volume One,"� he recalled Byrd telling an audience.

That book, "Robert C. Byrd, Child of the Appalachian Coalfields,"� and another he penned, "Losing America,"� were part of the memorabilia on display.

Numerous photographs showing the senator with political luminaries, such as Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, were part of the display.

"His work, in short, has been monumental,"� reflected Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., who once worked on Byrd's staff.

"His efforts have provided for public services and fundamental structures -- modern highways, safer bridges, veterans centers, clean water systems. But these fall short of the greatest and most lasting monument that he has given the people of West Virginia, his devotion and tireless work."�

The white-haired Byrd, who has struggled with illnesses in the past year, thanked West Virginians for the honor and said his lone regret was that his late wife, Erma, couldn't be at his side.

"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,"� he said.

-- E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com