Cord Byrd: “I feel compelled to address head on, I mean head on, the news stories in recent weeks that have pointed out the shocking…”

“I feel compelled to address head on, I mean head on, the news stories in recent weeks that have pointed out the shocking discovery, yes, shocking discovery, that I am growing older. Did you get that? Shocking discovery that I am growing older. I find it no surprise, but then I have had some time to become accustomed to the increasing distance between the year of my birth and the current date. I may not like it, but as Maurice Chevalier put it: Old age is not so bad when you consider the alternative. A recent Associated Press story ran in West Virginia's Charleston Daily Mail. The headline read: Dramatic change in signatures shows that age is catching up with Senator Byrd. The newspaper offered as proof the signatures on my Senate financial disclosure forms from last year and this year. It is true that this year's signature looks like I signed it in a moving car. Some days, the benign essential tremor that I have had for years now is worse than on other days, just as it is for the approximately 5 million other people in the United States who suffer from similar tremors. It is annoying, but it is hardly evidence that I am at death's door. Nor should it come as a surprise that I use canes to help me get around or that I am not always as fast as I once was. I am not aware of any requirement for physical dexterity in order to hold the office of U.S. Senator.”