Washington, D.C. – Below is a recent statement Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), the Senate’s longest serving member, made on the senate floor regarding Senator Dayton’s term in office. Byrd highlighted Dayton’s respect for the Senate institution, the Constitution and their shared vote on the Iraq War Resolution, which Byrd termed “the greatest vote I ever cast.”

Mr. President, I say farewell to Senator Dayton. Seldom has a freshman Senator made more of an impression on me than has Senator Mark Dayton of Minnesota who has announced that he will be leaving us at the end of this session of the Congress.

From the start of his service in this Chamber, I have been struck by Senator Dayton's determination to learn the rules, to learn the traditions, to learn the customs of the Senate.

When Senator Dayton presided over the Senate, which is one of the responsibilities of freshman Senators, he always did so with attention and dignity. His demeanor was inspiring. It reassured my belief in the future of this great institution.

When I meet with new Senators, as I often do, about the duties of the Presiding Officer, I urge them to use that gavel on that desk vigorously to bring the U.S. Senate to order.

I recall one instance when Senator Dayton banged the gavel so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair. That is the way it should be. I thought to myself: Bang that gavel, bring the Senate to order so that the Senate can conduct the Nation's business.

I am also impressed about the reverence that Senator Dayton shows for our Nation's most basic, most important document, the Constitution of the United States. Many people who have served in this Chamber will have to answer to history for the way they have ignored and trampled upon our Constitution. As President Lincoln once reminded the Members of Congress: “We cannot escape history.”

I am confident that history will hold Senator Dayton in high regard. Time after time, this freshman Senator has stood with me and the Constitution of the United States on the important issues before us. Senator Dayton was one of the lonely 23 Senators who voted not to go to war with Iraq. I have been, as I say, 48 years in this body, and it is the greatest vote I ever cast, the vote of which I am most proud of all the 17,000 and more votes that I have cast.

Senator Dayton was willing to defy public opinion and the forces of war because he, Senator Dayton, was determined not to hand over to President Bush, or any President, Democrat or Republican, any President, the power to declare war. No. Why? Because the Constitution says Congress shall have the power to declare war.

With firm belief in our constitutional doctrines of the separation of powers and checks and balances, Senator Dayton was the only person on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee who voted against the flawed Department of Homeland Security bill that this White House pushed.

How I have admired the courage and the fortitude of this man, Senator Dayton, this Senator and his firm belief in our constitutional system. How I have wished that he would change his mind. I have spoken to him numerous times about that. I wish we had more like him, more who would say: Come one, come all, this rock shall fly from its firm base as I. I thank Senator Dayton for standing shoulder to shoulder and toe to toe with me on so many constitutional issues, and I thank him for the reverence he has shown this institution, the U.S. Senate.

Senator Dayton is a descendent--get this--Senator Dayton is a descendent of Jonathan Dayton, who was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 from the State of New Jersey. I know that Jonathan Dayton is up there somewhere today looking down and smiling upon his kinsman who has worked so hard to preserve and to protect the Constitution, the sacred document that he, Jonathan Dayton, helped to create along with George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.

Senator Dayton has brought to the Senate a vigor and a vision of public policies that is both refreshing and needed; yes, needed. Mark Dayton has devoted his life to public service. And why he ever decided to leave the Senate is beyond me. I have done the best I could talking with him time and time again, but he remains firm.

His public service included teaching school in the lower east side of New York City, also known as the Bowery, and serving as a social worker in Boston, the great city of Boston. Senator Dayton's social and political activism landed him on President Richard Nixon's infamous ``enemies list''--which he, Senator Mark Dayton, probably considered a badge of honor--and on the staff of Senator Walter Mondale, one of our fine Vice Presidents.

Senator Dayton brought his concerns for the less fortunate and the powerless with him to the Senate. As a freshman Senator, he proposed a new farm bill to help struggling family farms. He proposed a prescription tax credit plan to help Medicare beneficiaries offset the costs of their medications. He established a health care help line to assist working families in his State in getting health coverage from their insurance companies that they had paid for. He proposed a global trade agreement to limit the President's ability to negotiate trade deals by giving the Congress the power to reject parts of negotiated trade deals if they violated existing laws.

I expected great things from this Senator. He had been serving in this Chamber for only 2 years, when on March 13, 2003, I predicted that Senator Dayton would have a ``long career, if he wishes to make it a long one.''

I was surprised, I was disappointed, I was saddened to learn that he has chosen instead to make a short career in the Senate. I hope he does not retire from public life because our country--especially our less fortunate--will always need public servants like Mark Dayton.

But whatever he chooses to do, I wish him happiness and success. And I will always be grateful for my friendship with Mark Dayton and the work--yes, the work--that we have done together.

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, will the Senator yield briefly?

Mr. BYRD. I do yield. Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining?

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 8 and a half minutes remaining.

Mr. BYRD. I yield to the Senator 2 minutes. Is that sufficient?

Mr. DAYTON. I will be very brief.

I thank the Senator from West Virginia for those gracious words. I am deeply honored because they come from the mouth of one of the greatest Senators in the history of this country. And whatever I have learned to apply with my understanding of the traditions of the Senate, the integrity of the Senate, the dignity of the Senate, I heard first and foremost from the great Senator from West Virginia, who has been a mentor, a guide, a leader, for whom I have the utmost respect. And when I did preside and listen to the Senator speak about such subjects as the United States Constitution, I learned more from his wisdom than I have learned in the previous 55 years of my life. I was honored to stand with him, really behind him, when he led the public outcry against the war resolution. And I was honored to be 1 of those 23 Senators, and history has proven us also correct. For his incredible service to his State for which he was cited as the Greatest West Virginian of the last century, and I expect will be cited as the Greatest West Virginian of this century as well, and for that same quality of devotion to our country and incredible leadership to our entire Nation, we are all--all of the country men and women--in great debt to him. I am, again, deeply honored by his words.

Mr. BYRD: Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator, and I will always cherish, as long as I live, his words.

* This floor statement was taken from the Congressional Record on September 29, 2006*

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