Getting your player ready...
The Senate will open its session today by saluting Sen. Robert Byrd, Congress’ longest-serving member.
“United States senators, like baseball fans, love statistics,” the West Virginia Democrat, who turns 92 on Friday, observed in 1986. Marking today’s occasion, he said, “I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days.”
Byrd had been married to his beloved Erma for nearly four years when Thanksgiving became a federal holiday in 1941. He began his political career four years later as a member of West Virginia’s House of Delegates.
Erma passed away three years ago. Byrd says her absence at this milestone is his only regret. The Associated Press
