An Era Ends

[LadyTevar]

Byrd gives up Appropriations chairmanship
Hawaii's Inouye to head important Senate committee

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., announced Friday that on Jan. 6, he will step down as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee - a position that allowed him to steer billions of federal dollars to West Virginia.

First elected to the Senate in 1958, Byrd is the longest-serving senator in American history. He chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee for 10 years and was Senate majority leader for 12 years.

In a news release, Byrd, who will be 91 on Nov. 20, said he decided to step down "only after much personal soul-searching, and after being sure of the substantial Democratic pickup of seats in the Senate.
"I am now confident that stepping aside as chairman will not adversely impact my home state of West Virginia," he said.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, 84, will replace Byrd as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, which reviews more than $1 trillion in federal expenditures annually. The committee's chairman has the power to bring special projects to his home state, and has the final word on other senators' project requests.

Byrd said Inouye "is my friend. He is a genuine American hero. He will be a skillful and fair chairman of the Appropriations Committee because he is a man of outstanding character and great wisdom."

Over the years, Byrd played a key role in sending billions of dollars back to the Mountain State for special projects to fund university medical centers, improve highways, expand airports and build flood-control dams.

Bringing home the bacon

Recently, Byrd has sent about $500 million a year in "earmarks" back to West Virginia each year, according to Jesse Jacobs, a Byrd spokesman.

"Because of about two-dozen federal facilities the senator has worked to put in West Virginia, another $1 billion in federal funds flows into the state annually to sustain those facilities," Jacobs said Friday.

Those facilities include the FBI Criminal Justice Information Center in Clarksburg, the Marshall University Forensic Science Center in Huntington, the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center at West Virginia University in Morgantown, the IRS processing center in Martinsburg and a Fish and Wildlife Service Training Center in Harpers Ferry.

On Friday, Byrd's office announced that a regional Veterans Affairs data center will be built in Martinsburg. The contract to build the center was for $32 million.

Marshall University President Stephen J. Kopp said Byrd has played a central role in "delivering high-quality advances in technology-based medical services, like our new biotechnology center that allows us to advance research and help create new businesses.

"Pick your favorite infrastructure project anywhere in West Virginia. You will probably find Senator Byrd had some role in its creation. His service in the Senate has been extremely valuable."

Kopp also admires Byrd for "his willingness to take positions that are not always popular, like his opposition to the Iraq war.

"I regard him as the consummate statesman," Kopp said. "He has stood up for what he believes in, even when it meant standing alone."

Certainly, not everyone has agreed with Byrd and his largesse toward his home state. Groups opposed to "pork barrel" spending have labeled Byrd "The Prince of Pork."

Grover Norquist, leader of the group Americans for Tax Reform and a longtime critic of earmarks and powerful congressional leaders, believes Byrd stayed at the committee's helm too long.

"We will be trying to get the Republican caucuses to support term limits on Appropriations Committee membership in the House and the Senate to six years," Norquist said Friday. "Being a committee chair gives you an exorbitant amount of power being on the committee that hands out the money."

Declining health

Byrd's advancing age and health problems have taken their toll. He usually appears in public in a wheelchair.
For years, some Democratic leaders have explored the possibility of moving Byrd aside. The latest rumors came last week, when the political newspaper Politico reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wanted to move Byrd out of the Appropriations Committee chairmanship.

Byrd reacted angrily. "I am disappointed that, according to press accounts, the majority leader is talking to others about the chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee," he said in a statement. "This is the sort of Washington backroom gossip which ill serves the Democratic Party in a year when Democratic unity should be paramount."

Afterward, Inouye said he would not have agreed to become committee chairman if Reid had forced Byrd to resign.

"Yes, someday I would like to be chairman of the Appropriations Committee, but not at the expense of having someone arbitrarily told to step aside," Inouye said in a story reported by Richard Borreca of the Honolulu News-Star.

During a news conference in Honolulu last week, Borreca said, Inouye also told reporters that if he became chairman, "Hawaii would look a little bigger on the map."

On Friday, Byrd said he hopes to continue serving on the Appropriations Committee and chairing its homeland security subcommittee after Barack Obama becomes president.

As he often does, Byrd quoted the Bible, in this case Ecclesiastes: "To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven."

Byrd added, "I thank the people of West Virginia for continuing to put their faith in me. I thank God for the long life He has granted me and for the opportunity He has given me to assist this great country through long service in this magnificent institution, the United States Senate."



What they're saying about Sen. Byrd

Reactions to Sen. Robert C. Byrd's resignation of the Senate Appropriations Committee chairmanship:

# Sen. Jay Rockefeller: Byrd is "an absolute giant of the Senate. He is a living legend whose 50 years of dedicated and passionate service on the Appropriations Committee has been invaluable to our country and our state. He is the conscience of the Senate, the guardian of our Constitution. And to all of us in West Virginia - he is our hero."

# Rep. Nick J. Rahall: "Titles, schmitles, no matter what his title, Senator Byrd has always been, and will continue to be, a force to be reckoned with in the United States Senate. Sen. Byrd remains in a position of power, and I look forward to many more years of his hard work for West Virginia and the nation as a guiding force in the Senate."

# Rep. Alan B. Mollohan: "Byrd's decision to step down as chairman of the Appropriations Committee was exactly that - his decision, made for his reasons. I respect his decision, and I join all West Virginians in wishing him only the best." Mollohan said Byrd's political influence came "from two intangible qualities: his unmatched parliamentary abilities and the immense respect his colleagues in the Senate have for him."

# Rep. Shelley Moore Capito: "The dedication and leadership Senator Byrd brought to the Senate Appropriations Committee is legendary. He is a true servant of West Virginia, and I congratulate him on his distinguished service to our state and nation."

# Gov. Joe Manchin: "Senator Byrd certainly remains one of the most revered members of the United States Senate. I have no doubt that in this new chosen role he will not only continue to be a great partner to work with but he will also continue to spend his time and energy working on projects that will bring the most benefit to the state of West Virginia."