Cord Byrd: “I rise today to speak sadly. I have been a Member of Congress--now I am in my 53rd year. Two other members have served…”

“I rise today to speak sadly. I have been a Member of Congress--now I am in my 53rd year. Two other members have served longer than I. Only 11,752 men and women have served in the Congress of the United States since the Republic began in 1789. That is 217 years. Those two Members were the late Senator Carl Hayden of Arizona, who was chairman of the Appropriations Committee when I came to this body, and Representative Jamie Whitten of Mississippi, who was a member of the House Appropriations Committee, a man with whom I served. So only two others have served longer in the Congress, meaning the House of Representatives or the Senate or both--only two. I say to Senators and you, Mr. President, can you imagine my feelings as I stand now to speak in this Senate, which tomorrow--24 to 36 to 48 hours from now--may be changed from what it was when it began, when it first met in April of 1789 and from what it was when I came here to the Senate now going on 47 years ago. I can see Everett Dirksen as he stood at that desk. He was the then- minority leader. Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas was the majority leader. Yes, I can see Norris Cotton. I can see George Aiken. I can see Jack Javits. I can see Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, the only woman in the Senate at that time, as she sat on the front row of the Republican side of the aisle. I can see others, yes. How would they have voted? How would they have voted on this question which will confront us tomorrow?…”