Byrd to voluntarily step down as chair of Appropriations Committee.
Byrd to voluntarily step down as chair of Appropriations Committee.
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) announced today that he will voluntarily step down as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Jan. 6. Byrd, who is the longest-serving senator in American history, said in a statement that he made the decision “only after much personal soul searching”:
In a news release, Byrd said he decided to step down “only after much personal soul searching, and after being sure of the substantial Democratic pickup of seats in the Senate.
“I am now confident that stepping aside as chairman will not adversely impact my home state of West Virginia,” he said.
Democrats had been hoping that Byrd would “step aside voluntarily” due concerns that he was “not up to the immense challenges he would face in that job.” Byrd will be replaced by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
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I do admire Byrd’s dicision and thank him for his many years of service.
But his potential replacement (Inouye) has been spouting his total support for Teddy Boy Stevens to keep his seat in the US Senate,even after being a convicted felon. Not so sure that is the kind of leader I want for ANY Senate Committee
November 7th, 2008 at 3:10 pmByrd should step down from the senate. He is the blue team’s Strom Thurmond.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:10 pmRobert Byrd you are now and have been, a remarkable inspiration . May another step up to take your place in this regard as well ,. You are however a very hard act to follow !
November 7th, 2008 at 3:11 pmGod bless you .
byrd comes off more as a novelty than anything else.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:15 pmCreepy photo of the two birds TP.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pmIt’s interesting to see the changing of the guard in both major parties. Robert Byrd has a pretty long history with the committee, it will be interesting to see how it changes with new blood in there. The committee is even one of his current Evri connections –
November 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pmhttp://www.evri.com/person/robert-byrd-0×30c36.html
November 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pmWhat kind of stupid moronic dickwit would name Inouye chairman of ANYTHING?
Oh, yeah…Harry Reid…
nuff said,…
November 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pmAh, the Democrats. Replacing a 91yr old, 9 term senator with an 84yr old, 8 term senator.
Inouye is essentially Hawaii’s Ted Stevens (minus the rampant corruption and greed). Both have served their respective states since statehood; which probably explains Inouye’s continued support for Stevens.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:24 pmInouye? Crap!
November 7th, 2008 at 3:35 pmInouye is about as (D) as Lieberman. Jebus, he’s almost as old as Byrd and he’s STILL supporting his BFF Stevens. How about Jim Webb. Or, or, …anyone else?!
November 7th, 2008 at 3:49 pmdeebaser Says:
Byrd should step down from the senate. He is the blue team’s Strom Thurmond.
He apologized for that YEARS ago. Stay up. I do, however, think it’s good he voluntarily give it up. Dignified. Let’s remember this is the guy who stood on an empty Senate floor prior to the Iraq War resolution vote protesting that it hadn’t had a decent hearing, and PLEASE…be cognizant of what they were about to commit America and our young people to.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:51 pmWhy is there a rule that the Appropriations Committee has to be headed by the oldest, most pork-lovin’ conservative Democrat in the Senate from a marginal state?
November 7th, 2008 at 4:26 pmOne corrupt Dem replaced by another corrupt Dem (Inouye is Steven’s bestest buddy), I don’t see what the benefit is. The post should go to one of the cleaner members of the Senate, especially considering how tempting the Appropriations Committee is for those who wish to use the Senate as their personal piggy-bank.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pmHe reminds me (obliquely) of Jerry Rice.
When you have contributed this much, you get to pick your time.
No matter what we think…
November 7th, 2008 at 5:31 pmfrankly, I was hoping he’d stay.
I had many sleepless nights watching C-SPAN re-runs when Byrd and Kennedy stood up with mighty BALLS to often empty seats.
they stood up for vets and working people and against a crime against nature called “the nuclear option”
November 7th, 2008 at 8:01 pmhe stood up when standing up really could have mattered. now he steps aside. does it really matter? a lot of people seem to think say. what were those people doing when Byrd was railing with righteous indignation? I’ll bet is was REAL important.
I remember watching Sen. Byrd say these words on C-Span:”This Chamber is , for the most part silent-ominously, dreadfully silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the nation the pros and cons of this particular war. There is nothing. We stand passively mute in the United States Senate.”
November 7th, 2008 at 9:39 pmOne of the few who stood up and said no in that dreadful time when their was virtually no discussion about what Bush wanted. And we still pay the price eight long years later.