Political Quotes

“Mr. President, our Senate family grieves today with the Byrd family over the loss of one of the most dedicated Americans ever to serve this country; one of the most devoted men ever to serve his State; one of the most distinguished Senators ever to serve in the Senate. Robert Byrd's mind was among the greatest the world has ever seen. As a boy, he was called upon, when he was in elementary school, to stand before the class and recite not paragraphs from the assignment of the night before but pages of the night before. He did this from memory. From his graduation as valedictorian of his high school class at the age of 16 to his death this morning as the Senate's President pro tempore at age 92, he mastered everything he touched with great thoughtfulness and skill. This good man could drive from his home here in Washington to West Virginia and back--it took 8 hours--reciting classic poetry the entire time, and not recite the same poem twice. I was asked by Senator Byrd to travel to West Virginia to do an exchange with the British Parliament. There were a number of us there, eight or nine Senators, and a like number of British Parliamentarians. I can remember that night so well. We had the music up there he liked the best--bluegrass music--and they played. It was a festive evening. Then it came time for the program. In the program, Senator Byrd said: I am going to say a few things. And he passed out little notebooks.…”