West Virginia has lost one of its best friends and most staunch supporters in Senator Robert C. Byrd. The Republican Party joins with the people of West Virginia and around the world whose lives were touched by this great individual.
We differed with Senator Byrd on many principles, but we never for a second questioned his integrity and love for the United States Constitution and the State of West Virginia. He battled in the name of our founding document against political friend and opponent alike. Byrd earned one of the highest honors due a Senator, the position of Majority Leader. However he abandoned that post during a time when West Virginians suffered from severe economic distress to chair the Appropriations Committee. From there he steered billions of federal dollars here. Again, we may disagree with the method in which he worked to benefit the Mountain State, we do not question his heart or positive intentions.
Senator Byrd followed in the footsteps of a long line of great West Virginia legislators such as Stephen B. Elkins, Harley O. Staggers, Jennings Randolph and many others. He carried on a tradition of common sense principles on the national level coupled with the desire to advance his state.
We also remember the scholarship of Senator Byrd, advancing the national discussions on law and rights. He wrote on the history of the Roman Senate, but was more famous for his works on the United States Congress. Historians for some time to come will remain grateful for his compilations of senatorial statistics and important addresses. We would certainly not be honest if we claimed to agree with all of his other writings, particularly those about President George W. Bush, but we definitely respect these expressions in the great tradition of our natural right to disagree with the government and its leaders.
Senator Byrd always cut a unique figure. In his early years of campaigning he loved to talk politics to voters while entertaining him with his fiddle. In later years he brought powerful constitutional issues up for debate in his beloved Senate. Regardless of where he was or what he did, Robert C. Byrd was a leader and people appreciated him.
West Virginia already misses him. He lived to work in a land where political storm clouds rose, but now the Lord has called him home to the land of unclouded days.
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