RSSCategories
• Deeds
• McDonnell
• Governor 2009
• Lt. Governor 2009
• Photos
• Campaign 2008
• General Assembly 2008
Recent Entries
• Marchi to leave AFP
• McDonnell to call for hushed rhetoric
• Cantor speaks on House floor for resolution honoring victims
• Locke new black caucus leader
Recent Comments
-
• By essays from the entry 'McDonnell urges a fast-track to the U.S. Supreme Court, Democrats blast Cuccinelli'
• By Nealo from the entry 'McDonnell to call for hushed rhetoric'
• By Jon Wong from the entry 'Reax to Governor's Proposed Budget Amendments'
• By Stafford from the entry 'Radtke: Reject debt ceiling increase'
• By OldCavalier from the entry 'Hurt, Griffith considering debt limit vote'
• By Varun Choudhary from the entry 'Young Dems take aim at Cuccinelli'
• By Steve Shepard from the entry 'Young Dems take aim at Cuccinelli'
• By Dean from the entry 'Cuccinelli Supports Repeal Amendment'
• By mojoguzzi from the entry 'Cuccinelli Supports Repeal Amendment'
• By Barney Reilly from the entry 'Griffith gets energy committee assignment'
Blogroll
• RVABlogs
• Virginia politics blog roll
• Raising Kaine
• Too conservative
• Not Larry Sabato
• Rick Sincere
• Virginia Politics
• The Shad Plank
• Virginia Public Access Project
• Who's my legislator?
• The Contemporary Conservative
Monthly Archives
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• July 2011
• June 2011
• May 2011
• April 2011
• March 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011
• December 2010
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August 2010
• July 2010
• June 2010
• May 2010
• April 2010
• March 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• December 2007
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006
• August 2006
By: Jeff Schapiro
Published: June 28, 2010 12:48 PM
Democrat Mark Warner was the first Virginia U.S. senator to react to the death of the Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the nation’s longest-serving senator.
In a written statement, Warner said, “I knew of Senator Robert Byrd and his work long before I ever met him. Sen. Byrd understood that for the Senate to work effectively, members have to be willing to work together in a bipartisan way, treat their colleagues with trust and mutual respect, and always put the interests of the nation first. In a Senate career that spanned more than a half-century, I believe it can be said that few people understood this institution any better than Robert Byrd.”
Republican John Warner, who retired from the Senate after the 2008 election, served with Byrd for years, starting in 1979. Warner this afternoon remembered the West Virginian as a courtly defender of Senate tradition who always found time for a personal word before getting down to business.
Though John Warner and Byrd were from different sides of the mountains separating their once-joined states, Byrd once reminded the Virginian how much their states have in common.
“I hadn’t been in the Senate four or five weeks, when he sent for me,” Warner said of Byrd, who was then Democratic majority leader. “He said, ‘There once was but one Virginia, and while there is now a border, I still consider it one Virginia. We’re stitched together. Some of the coal you mine in Virginia starts in West Virginia. And some the coal we mine in West Virginia starts in Virginia. But that great and majestic Appalachian Mountains is the seam that binds us.”
Democrat Jim Webb, now Virginia’s senior senator, issued a statement in which said he and Byrd shared mountain roots. Webb traces his family’s ancestry to Scott County in Southwest Virginia.
“The impact Sen. Byrd has had on the institution of the Senate will be felt for many years,” said Webb. “He was an ardent defender of the traditions of this body, and of its rightful place in the constitutional balance. He was also a force in ensuring that the views of all its members received fair treatment, whether he agreed with them or not. During the few years we served together in the Senate, I was proud to stand with him in fighting for a better way of life among the people of Appalachia, who found in Sen. Byrd a steadfast advocate. He was an exceptional legislator and statesman, and he will be greatly missed.”
Deal of the Day
Advertisement
Advertisement
