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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Robert Byrd

Robert Byrd stories: 16 news summaries

Robert Byrd Now Longest-Serving Legislator Ever

By the senator's count, his career spanned 20,774 days

Nov 18, 09 8:39 AM CST
(AP) - West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd has become the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history, a milestone to be marked today with a Senate resolution. "I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days," Byrd said, adding that he was sorry his late wife... More »

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Senate • West Virginia • US Congress • Robert Byrd • Democratic Senators • milestone

 Fall Sends Byrd to Hospital 

Spokesman says Democratic senator will likely not be admitted

Sep 22, 09 11:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sen. Robert Byrd is at the hospital after a fall at his Northern Virginia home, the Washington Post reports. The 91-year-old West Virginia Democrat has been scarce at the Capitol recently after a previous hospitalization that ended in June. The longest-serving US senator ever “apparently stood up too... More »

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Congress • elderly • Senate • hospital • West Virginia • Democratic Party • hospitalization • Robert Byrd • fall

ANALYSIS

 Kennedy's 
 Senate Class 
 Full of Lions 

Giants abound in 88th Senate

Aug 27, 09 8:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - It’s no wonder Ted Kennedy became a lion of the Senate, writes Tom Schaller of FiveThirtyEight.com: he learned from the best. Kennedy began his first full term with the 88th Congress in 1963, and the list of senators sworn in alongside him contains “a safari’s worth... More »

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Senate • Ted Kennedy • Barry Goldwater • George McGovern • Hubert Humphrey • Strom Thurmond • Robert Byrd • Fulbright

tribute roundup

 Byrd: Rename 
 Health Bill 
 for Kennedy 


Aug 26, 09 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Senator Robert Byrd wants his colleagues to honor Ted Kennedy by renaming health care legislation in his honor, Politico reports. “As a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling,” said Byrd, 92, himself in poor health. "My heart and... More »

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Congress • Senate • Harry Reid • Arnold Schwarzenegger • Ted Kennedy • Benjamin Netanyahu • legislation • Nancy Reagan • health care reform • Robert Byrd • bill

 Sen. Byrd 
 Hospitalized 
 With 'Minor 
 Infection' 

91-year-old 'responding well' to antibiotics

May 18, 09 11:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sen. Robert Byrd, at 91 the Senate's oldest and longest-serving member, has been hospitalized with a temperature spike reportedly caused by a “minor infection,” his office said today. “He is being treated with antibiotics, responding well, and is expected to be released from the hospital in a... More »

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Congress • health • Senate • infection • hospitalization • Robert Byrd

Don't Use Budget Process for Big Reform: GOP to Obama

Procedure would allow Democrats to pass agenda with 51 votes

Mar 24, 09 11:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - To circumvent a likely 60-vote minimum in the Senate for big-ticket bills like health reform, President Obama is considering pursuing proposals through a budgetary tactic known as reconciliation, where just 51 votes are needed and no filibustering is allowed. But Republicans are having none of it, Politico reports. Senate Republican... More »

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Senate • Senate Democrats • Jon Kyl • Mitch McConnell • Senate Republicans • filibuster • Rahm Emanuel • health care reform • reconciliation • bipartisanship • federal budget • Robert Byrd • Obama administration • President Obama • Tom Carper

Obama Has Too Many Czars, Critics Complain

Sen. Byrd says Obama's 'super aide' craze is a power grab

Mar 5, 09 10:05 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama loves czars. He’s got an energy czar, an urban affairs czar, an economic czar, and, most recently, a health reform czar, making him the most czar-happy president ever, scholars say. But lawmakers worry they’re losing ground in the "super aide" craze, the LA Times... More »

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Barack Obama • czar • Robert Byrd • energy czar • Obama administration

 Kennedy Suffers 
 Seizure, Collapses 

Sen. Byrd also has medical issues at Obama lunch

Jan 20, 09 2:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Ted Kennedy suffered an apparent seizure and was taken from an inaugural lunch at the Capitol today by medical personnel, Politico reports. Kennedy’s health troubles came minutes after fellow senator Robert Byrd also had to leave the event due to medical troubles; Byrd was conscious but was having trouble... More »

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Barack Obama • Ted Kennedy • inauguration • Robert Byrd • President Obama

ANALYSIS

 Constitution May Sink 
 Hillary's State Chance 

Lawmakers can't take federal post for which their Congress raised the salary

Nov 20, 08 12:35 PM CST
(Newser) - Should Barack Obama nominate Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, the confirmation process could be the least of her worries, the Washington Post reports. The Constitution prohibits any member of Congress from assuming a federal post whose salary has been increased during the lawmaker’s term; cabinet salaries have risen... More »

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Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • Congress • Senate • secretary of State • US Constitution • Election 2008 • Robert Byrd • President Obama

Byrd, 90, Resigns as Appropriations Chairman

Senator, rumored to be under pressure from Reid, will be replaced by Hawaii's Inoyue

Nov 7, 08 3:58 PM CST
(Newser) - Robert Byrd resigned today as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, acquiescing to Democratic leaders who reportedly wanted him out of the job, the Hill reports. Byrd, 90, has been hospitalized three times in the past year, and said he was willing to leave the committee in younger hands—namely,... More »

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Barack Obama • Senate • Harry Reid • Senate Democrats • Daniel Inouye • Senate Appropriations Committee • change • Robert Byrd • President Obama

Senate Dems Look to Prod Byrd Out of Key Chair

West Virginian, 90, has been in the Senate since 1959

Oct 29, 08 9:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Senate Democrats are considering an attempt to remove 90-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd from his position as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the New York Times reports. Byrd is the longest-serving senator in history. His committee controls one-third of all federal spending, and Dems worry he’s not up to the... More »

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Harry Reid • Senate Appropriations Committee • Robert Byrd

 Praising Kennedy, 
 Byrd Breaks Down 

90-year-old colleague weeps on floor of Senate

May 20, 08 5:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Robert Byrd echoed their Senate colleagues' good wishes for Ted Kennedy as he spoke on the floor of the chamber this afternoon, then broke down as he delivered a tribute to his ailing friend, Politico reports. "Ted, Ted, my dear friend, I love you, and I miss you,"... More »

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cancer • Senate • Ted Kennedy • Robert Byrd

 Robert Byrd Endorses Obama 

West Va. senator and former KKK member, 90, wants end to Iraq war

May 19, 08 4:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - West Virginia's Robert Byrd, the longest-serving senator ever and a former Ku Klux Klansman, today endorsed Barack Obama, calling him “a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian.” The 90-year-old, who's fourth in line for the presidency, threw his support behind Obama one week after his state voted for Hillary... More »

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Barack Obama • Ku Klux Klan • endorsement • Robert Byrd • West Virginia primary

 Dems Jeer
 'Iraq Victory'
 Anniversary 

5 years after 'Mission Accomplised,' Dems put war in the spotlight

May 1, 08 3:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Five years ago today, President Bush bounded out of a fighter jet onto a deck of an aircraft carrier and, under a huge "Mission Accomplished" banner, boasted to cheering troops that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. As the war drags on into its sixth year, congressional Democrats... More »

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Iraq • US military • aircraft carrier • Iraq war • George W. Bush • Robert Byrd

 'Too Old' Byrd
 to Critics:
 Shut Up! 

Senator, 90, flexes muscle at hearing

Apr 17, 08 2:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - History's longest-serving senator has two words for people who think he's no longer up to the job of chairing the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee: "Shut up." Democrat Robert Byrd, 90, has been hospitalized twice this year but his management of a two-hour hearing on Iraq war spending yesterday... More »

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Senate • Harry Reid • Dick Durbin • Senate Appropriations Committee • Iraq war spending • Robert Byrd

 Pork Watchdog Taps Byrd 

W.Va. rules the roost in earmarks as $2.8B in tasty meat comes under scrutiny

Apr 2, 08 2:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Fiscal responsibility and vegetarianism took a hit today with the release of the 2008 Oinkers, awarded by a Washington watchdog group for the "most egregious and blatant examples of pork." Sen. Robert Byrd landed the top award for earmarking $386 million for West Virginia, but Alaska was the... More »

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Congress • earmarks • Ted Stevens • Charles Rangel • pork barrel spending • Citizens Against Government Waste • Robert Byrd

16 Stories


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