Murkowski Remembers Sen. Robert Byrd
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today made the following comment on the passing of U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia:
“It is a sad day in the Senate for we have lost an institutional legend, West Virginia’s Robert C. Byrd, our Nation’s longest serving Senator. A giant of the Senate, he was a staunch protector of its constitutional role and prerogatives and always kept a copy of the United States Constitution in his breast pocket, closest to his heart. A son of the depression, growing up in impoverished Appalachia, he understood and empathized with the isolation and third world conditions that plagued our Alaska Native people of rural Alaska. Because of his long standing relationship with Ted Stevens on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Byrd came to know and understand the needs of our state. Our Denali Commission is closely modeled on the Appalachian Regional Commission, which Senator Byrd championed during his decades of service to our Nation. I extend my deepest condolences to Senator Byrd’s daughters, Mona and Marjorie, his five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, to the people of West Virginia and to all who knew and loved this great American.”
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