Byrd’s Vote, His 14,000th, Draws Ovation in Senate
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WASHINGTON — Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) broke a Senate record and got a standing ovation from his colleagues Thursday when he cast his 14,000th vote.
Byrd, 78, accepted the accolades, then characteristically chided fellow senators.
“We’ve become too politically partisan in this Senate,” he said, turning to Republicans and Democrats all around him. “It grieves me to see the growing disorder in this Senate.”
A resolution honoring Byrd notes he also has held more Senate leadership positions than any other senator in history, as majority leader from 1977-80 and 1987-88, and as minority leader from 1981-1986. Until Republicans took over this year, he served as president pro tem of the Senate.
Byrd is one of only three senators ever to have been elected to seven six-year terms.
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