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U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., on Thursday cast a record 18,000th roll call vote in the Senate -- a record that the Senator says truly belongs to the people of West Virginia.
"The people of West Virginia expect me to do the job that they sent me here to do, and I am doing it. This 18,000th roll call vote is a testament to their faith in me and my work for them," Byrd said after the vote Thursday afternoon.
"My highest duty is to West Virginia and to the people of our state," Byrd said. "West Virginia values have always been True North for me. The teachings of the Bible and life’s lessons learned as a son of West Virginia continue to guide me today."
Byrd’s vote 18,000th was in support of tax incentives written by his colleague, Senator Jay Rockefeller that would accelerate the development of coal-to-liquids technology. Rockefeller, Congressman Nick Rahall, and Congressman Alan Mollohan, all D-W.Va., were in the Senate for the record vote.
After the vote, Byrd urged his colleagues to remember that the Senate is not supposed to be a place where politics rule, but rather that the best interests of the people are the priority.
"I love this Senate. I love the Senate for its rules and its precedents, and for the difference that it can make in people’s lives," Byrd said.
"The Senate was viewed by the Framers as a place where mature wisdom would reside. It was intended to serve as a check on both the House of Representatives and the Executive," Byrd explained. "Partisanship was not viewed as necessary or constructive in that day and time. Nor, might I say, is total devotion to partisanship constructive in this day and time."
"I have served in this Senate for nearly five decades. Times have changed. But our responsibilities and duties as Senators have not. We have a responsibility to the people to make our country a better place. The people send us here to do a job. They do not send us here to score political points or to advance our personal agenda," Byrd said.
"If I could have one wish as I cast this 18,000th vote, it would be that the Senate could put aside the political games, roll up our sleeves, and get back to work for the people of America," Byrd said.
Of current senators, Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, and Alaska Senator Ted Stevens come closest to Byrd. But all three are about 3,000 votes behind the West Virginia lawmaker.
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