With Senator Barack Obama's victory as the 44th President of the United States as well as a solid victory for the Democrats in Congress on Tuesday, it is evident that the tides are definitely changing in Washington. However, only the Hillites and those who have followed his career would understand just how much Washington is really shifting when Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-Wva.), the President Pro Tempore and the longest serving member of the United States Senate in history, decided yesterday that it was his time to relinquish his chairmanship of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), 2nd in seniority on the committee, will be his successor as of January 6th, 2009. The Appropriations Committee is the body that handles all discretionary spending legislation and is arguably the most powerful committee on Capitol Hill. Byrd will remain on the committee as chairman of the subcommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Robert Byrd was first appointed to the Appropriations Committee in 1959 by Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, which was also his first year of taking office. His appointment at the time was unheard of since he was a freshman. At the time, it was customary to have more seniority in the Senate before being appointed to such an important committee. Coming from the coal-fields of West Virginia, Byrd had such enormous sensitivity to the economic conditions of his state as well a keen awareness of how much West Virginia had been robbed by the coal and railroad barons of the early 1900's. Therefore, he wouldn't accept anything else from Johnson besides Appropriations. He had his eyes set on the chairmanship from the time he stepped into the Senate chamber, knowing the power he would have to do all he could to help his home state. While it took many years to build seniority, it eventually paid off and allowed Byrd to handle the gavel for 20 years. All of the spending projects he has earmarked to bills have greatly benefited the economy of West Virginia, helped improve the livelihoods of its people, created thousands of jobs, and have opened the state to the rest of the world Having one of the highest unemployment rates and lowest median incomes in the country, West Virginia has relied heavily on Byrd's leadership and stature to help lift the state out of its economic condition and without him, who knows what the economy of WV today would look like.
Yes, there are those that dub Byrd as the Prince of Pork and have a disgust for earmark spending in government, but you have no right to put all of blame on Senator Byrd. Instead of being upset with one of West Virginia's first major highway systems (a miracle in itself), be upset with the appropriations process as a whole. Mr. Byrd has done exactly what he was elected to do as a United States Senator for West Virginia and has performed his service with utmost honor and humility, asking for nothing in return. As a native West Virginia and a former intern for Sen. Byrd, I am very honored to have someone of his character, judgment, and intellect to represent my state. This is even more evident with West Virginia having re-elected him 9 record times to the Senate. His lifetime of public service (50 years to be exact) should be honored and rendered by everyone who has any common decency. He is a living legend and an institution in itself in the U.S. Senate. He will forever be beloved by his Senate colleagues, his mastery of the Constitution and Senate procedure will be studied by every future freshman senator to come, and he will always be the West Virginian of the 20th Century.
