Nick Rahall: “Mr. Speaker, the gates of heaven opened wide early yesterday morning. West Virginia lost a faithful son, the Senate lost…”

“Mr. Speaker, the gates of heaven opened wide early yesterday morning. West Virginia lost a faithful son, the Senate lost a father's watchful eye, and I lost my mentor and close friend. I extend my prayers and thoughts to Senator Byrd's daughters, to his grandchildren and great grandchildren, to all his family, and to his staff, especially many of whom have been with him for so long. Sadly but surely, we will not see the likes of Robert C. Byrd pass our way again. He came from humble beginnings. A virtual orphan, he was sent to be reared in the coalfields of our beloved State of West Virginia, enduring the depths of the Great Depression. But he was wealthy beyond belief with richness of values, all instilled in him by his adoptive parents. A self-taught butcher, a welder, a Sunday school teacher, a student, a self-disciplined scholar with straight A's with 21 credit hours in his first semester of college, a young man still, he wanted to serve. Armed with little more than determination and a fiddle, he successfully entered politics.”