West Virginia
Related Photos
-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Tools
State officials pay tribute to Byrd
CHARLESTON — Beneath a life-sized statue of history’s longest-serving U.S. lawmaker, West Virginia officials were paying tribute to Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
Gov. Joe Manchin told a crowd of more than 200 in the state Capitol Wednesday that West Virginians have never lost confidence in the senior senator, who has been in Congress since 1953, with the last five decades spent in the Senate.
Manchin said Byrd was the first politician to ever win a majority of votes in all 55 counties in a contested election.
Manchin says that proves Byrd’s appeal to Democrats, Republicans and independent voters alike.
The tribute to Byrd includes an exhibit in the Capitol. Photos from throughout his career sit alongside pieces of memorabilia, including his famous fiddle.
Byrd, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1952, and then to the U.S. Senate in 1958, has served West Virginia for 56 years, 320 days. That surpasses the record set by Senator Carl Hayden of Arizona, who served from 1912 to 1969.
The senator was honored during a ceremony at the Capitol, at the foot of the statue dedicated when Byrd was named “West Virginian of the 20th Century.”
His accomplishments in Washington are legendary. He served as Senate majority whip from 1971 to 1977, Senate minority leader from 1981 to 1987, and Senate majority leader from 1977 to 1981 and again from 1987 to 1989. Byrd is the current president pro tempore of the Senate, a position he has held four times. He is currently third in the presidential line of succession, behind Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Secretary of State Natalie E. Tennant and Manchin signed a proclamation at the ceremony marking the occasion.
“It is such an honor to sign this proclamation for Sen. Byrd,” Tennant said. “It’s really impossible to thank him for everything he has done for our state. He has represented us admirably, and I congratulate him on becoming the longest serving member in the history of the United State Congress.”
Manchin said Byrd possesses a “strong moral compass.”
“What a remarkable national milestone we are celebrating today,” Manchin said. “Our senior senator becomes the longest serving member of Congress in the history of the United States government.”
State Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin and Speaker of the House of Delegates Rick Thompson each read proclamations passed the day Byrd became the longest serving member of Congress.
This week marks two milestones for Byrd. He turns 92 on Friday. The ceremony ended with Manchin, First Lady Gayle Manchin, Tennant, her daughter Delaney, and other state leaders singing “Happy Birthday.”
Manchin ended the song by adding: “And many more!”
- West Virginia
-
-
Snow hampered helicopter rescue
Three hours after a Navy helicopter crashed last month in West Virginia’s snow-covered mountains, National Guard medic Casey Dunfee cracked his cable on the floor of a Blackhawk rescue helicopter to break the ice and lowered himself hundreds of feet to the wreckage below.
-
Varied topics left for W.Va. lawmakers
West Virginia’s Legislature headed toward the end of its regular session Friday with just a handful of measures from its recession-inhibited workload left on the agenda.
On the eve of the 60-day session’s midnight finish, the House and Senate began exchanging a final batch of bills that include several items from Gov. Joe Manchin’s agenda.
-
W.Va. gets $22M for ‘bad schools’
Nearly $22 million in federal stimulus money will help West Virginia’s worst schools take drastic measures, including replacing principals and overhauling curriculum, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Thursday.
West Virginia is the first state to receive money through the federal School Improvement Grants program, which seeks to improve student performance by targeting chronically low-performing schools.
-
Dead bills pile up in W.Va. Legislature
Teenage tanners, seat belt scofflaws and adults who text while driving are among those who will evade further legislative restriction this year.
With three days to go before the regular legislative session ends, Thursday was the last day for most bills to reach the full House or Senate in time for a final vote.
-
W.Va. Senate bolsters proposed FY11 budget
Federal stimulus dollars and a recent pension funding change have allowed West Virginia’s Senate to tweak the upcoming state budget by $248 million.
But the amended budget bill unanimously passed Wednesday still cuts general revenue spending by $47 million from what the Legislature passed last year.
-
Proposed fees may doom election funding bill
The head of the Senate Finance Committee warned that the governor’s proposal to publicly finance state Supreme Court races could be derailed by concerns over the fees it would charge.
Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, a Pocahontas County Democrat, questioned whether his committee would consider the legislation after it advanced late Monday from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
-
Mountain State cities may get more freedom
State lawmakers appear ready to increase the independence of West Virginia’s local governments, and they aren’t waiting on results from an ongoing experiment on the subject.
-
Lawmakers entering session’s crunch time
West Virginia’s Legislature has less than a week to decide the fate of proposals targeting abortion, corporate political spending and prescription drug abuse.
-
Foreman says mine boss ordered him to fake records
A mining foreman accused of forging safety inspection reports at a West Virginia coal mine says his boss put profit ahead of potential danger, telling him to stop production and evacuate the mine only if a federal inspector was watching.
-
Advocates speak for, against ultrasound bill
After easy Senate passage, a contentious abortion bill is the subject of a fight in the House of Delegates where a public hearing Friday morning drew more than two dozen supporters and opponents.
The situation is familiar to the Legislature, where bills supported by abortion foes generally have an easier time in the Senate but have been derailed in the House for five consecutive years.
- More West Virginia Headlines
-
Snow hampered helicopter rescue
