Byrd Rejects Attempts
to Oust Him From
Appropriations Panel
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
WASHINGTON — West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd isn’t going gently into any good night, despite reports that 15 Senate Democrats have been talking privately about deposing the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman.
Byrd, 90, has been in and out of the hospital in recent weeks and missed a series of votes before the Spring recess.
That has led, according to Roll Call newspaper, to several senators holding “the first of what’s likely to be several private discussions” about whether Byrd can handle his duties as the head of the most powerful committee on Capitol Hill — especially at a time when annual appropriations get into full gear.
But a spokesman for Byrd, who missed Tuesday morning’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker on progress in Iraq, said the appropriations process is in no way suffering from the lawmaker’s absences.
“Once again, it appears that Washington insiders are practicing what they do best — petty rumor mongering,” Byrd Communications Director Jesse Jacobs told FOX News. “The fact is the 12 individual Senate Appropriations subcommittees are moving forward reviewing the budgets under their jurisdictions. That is the job they are tasked to do. And when it is time, the Senate Appropriations Committee will move forward with the supplemental appropriations bill.”
The newspaper reported Tuesday that some suggested that Byrd might be asked to relinquish the gavel and continue in an emeritus role.
“They are struggling to try and figure out how to deal with the situation,” said one senior-level Democrat who did not want to be named. He added that senators had raised “serious concerns about his ability to handle his appropriations work, especially with the upcoming hearings on the supplemental.”
Asked his opinion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday, “I do support keeping Senator Byrd on as chairman.”
Byrd is currently serving his ninth six-year term in the U.S. Senate. While he did not attend the morning hearing, he was on Capitol Hill and monitored it and the afternoon Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Jacobs said.
“He has been watching both hearings … in his Capitol office. And he voted today and met with staff,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said Byrd is still convalescing as a result of a recent fall but “is continuing his steady recovery through physical therapy” and “remains focused on the job at hand. Any suggestions that he is not fulfilling his duties as a United States senator are baseless and untrue.”
Lee ADDS: Ol Byrd, the KKK dude, will not bow down as he gets all the PORK he wants to remain in office by paying off his contributors! He and John Murtha have figured out how to stay in office and draw a salary for just showing up!
April 9th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Please try to contribute something to the political forum without simply mouthing the old crap like a redneck simpleton. Sen. Byrd became, briefly, a member of KKK in his youth much as many of you have turned radical fundamentalist religionists. He learned how to steer away from that mess; have you? Now: as to pork, Sen. Byrd saw that, just beyond the Virginia border, no money at all was coming out of Washington. He put a stop to the corruption and persuaded the people who actually care about the poor of America to invest in jobs and education (e.g., for universities and F.B.I. center) in the long-neglected neighboring state of West Virginia. The Senator is one of the few true patriots left in this country. He took a stand against the illegal, fraudulent “war” in Iraq, and his words still echo today across the globe. Try reading one or two of his books about the Constitution. They are already classic works. Try matching his deeds.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Arthur, it is apparent that it does not take a lopt of suds to brainwash folks like you! Senator Byrd has taken so much PORK that an estimated 7 highways in West Virginia are named for him as well as a great nember of schools and buildings. He used some $1 million TAX dollars to redo his Washington DC office as our VA was in need. He used the phrase ,”white N_____, ” some six times in one speech and had called that statiion and apologized an hour before tghe speech aired!
The Senator is hardly one that had ‘turned away from KKK!’
Get a life!