Sheila Jackson Lee: “I was detained when my colleagues were on the floor of the House paying tribute to Senator Byrd and did not want this…”

“I was detained when my colleagues were on the floor of the House paying tribute to Senator Byrd and did not want this time to go without acknowledging my deep sympathy to his family and to my good friend from West Virginia and to acknowledge how special this man was to the institution we call Congress and to the freedom that this Nation stands for. I cannot account for my personal encounters with Senator Byrd, but I can tell you, as someone who respects and loves this institution, what a man who understood the Constitution and rules that were not for selfish reasons, to keep people from being in power, but really it was to empower people. He had no qualms in standing up against Presidential authority that was wrong in the Iraq War. He had no qualms in fighting to ensure that resources came to his great State. He loved the institution. He was a holder of knowledge, and what we will lose with his passing is that special sensitivity to the rules and to the responsibility we have to not play politics with this institution. We are here to serve America, and Senator Byrd did serve America. May God rest his soul and may he rest in peace. Senator Byrd, we will miss you.”