Sen. Thurmond Back in Hospital After Collapsing During a Trip

Sen. Strom Thurmond, the oldest member of Congress at 96, is back in the hospital after collapsing late last week on a trip back home to South Carolina.

Thurmond entered Walter Reed Army Medical Center Sunday night complaining of tiredness after a busy schedule in South Carolina, a statement from his office said Monday.

While in the hospital, Thurmond also will undergo surgery for a chronically enlarged prostate, the statement said.

The Republican senator was released from a Columbia hospital Friday night after tests after his collapse earlier that day at a reception at the University of South Carolina.

The statement said Thurmond decided to go ahead with his prostate surgery because the gland had given him more trouble in recent months. The surgery had been scheduled for November but now will be done Wednesday, and he is expected to remain hospitalized through the weekend.

Thurmond was first elected to the Senate in 1954 and became the oldest person to serve in Congress at age 93. At 94, he became the longest-serving senator ever.

Thurmond spokesman John DeCrosta said the senator received his annual physical at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston last week and was pronounced healthy.