Robert Byrd Quotes

• George W. Bush is a man who seems to be the center of his own universe. He seems to have learned little of human nature and even less of human history over his lifetime.
• The American people and, yes, all too many of their political leaders have been manipulated and controlled in recent years through the most shameless use of fear this country has ever seen.
• America's true power lies not in its will to dominate but in its ability to inspire.
• And the president is all wrong when he maintains that a nominee should have an up-or-down vote. The Constitution doesn't say that. The Constitution doesn't say that that nominee shall have any vote at all. There doesn't have to even be a vote.
• Congress is not an ATM.
• Do not run a campaign that would embarrass your mother.
• Hitler never abandoned the cloak of legality; he recognized the enormous psychological value of having the law on his side. Instead, he turned the law inside out and made illegality legal.
• I do question the motives of a deskbound President who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech.
• I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side.
• I won't mince words - I am profoundly worried that the President may have a hidden agenda for dealing with Iran and Syria, and I am equally worried that the Administration has no agenda to manage what appears to be a worsening nuclear crisis in North Korea.
• It is money, money, money! Not ideas, not principles, but money that reigns supreme in American politics!
• Is it any wonder why the approval ratings of the Congress go up every time we go into recess?
• It [the Senate] handed everything to a president, by way of using the military forces of this country where he would, when he would, how he would, as long as it was connected with Iraq. And that's a blotch upon this country and the Senate.
• Our ideals of freedom, set forth and realized in our Constitution, are our greatest export to the world.
• Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.
• Some events define and shape history with the force of plate tectonics, moving the world onto a new path. On September 17, 1787, just such an event occurred when the Constitution of the United States was signed.
• That's what the Senate is about. It's the last bastion of minority rights, where a minority can be heard, where a minority can stand on its feet, one individual if necessary, and speak until he falls into the dust.
• The [Ku Klux] Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia.
• The ongoing strife in Iraq, and the billions of dollars that the President is seeking to continue that war, give me little comfort that this Administration has learned from its mistakes in Iraq.
• They call me 'The Pork King,' they don't know how much I enjoy it.
• There are 'white niggers'; I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time, if you want to use that word.
• This war is not necessary; we are truly sleepwalking through history.
• To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human experiences.
• We, unlike Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy, have never stopped being a nation of laws, not of men. But witness how men with motives and a majority can manipulate law to cruel and unjust ends.
• I love to serve. I love the Senate. I love the Constitution. If I could live another hundred years, I'd like to continue in the Senate.
• It is patriotic, not partisan, to help the President see the truth.
• The people of West Virginia have never let me down, and I intend to never let them down.
• Can it be that we, too, are ready to embrace the foul concepts of atheism? Somebody is tampering with America's soul, I leave it to you who that somebody is. (in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's verdict in Engel v. Vitale.)
• Mr. President, before we begin consideration of this spending bill, I want to take a moment to say how distraught and terribly shaken I am over the news of my dear friend, my dear dear friend, dear friend, Ted Kennedy. My thoughts and my humble prayers...are with Senator Kennedy...my dear friend Ted with his wife Vickie...and with the members of the Kennedy family. I hope and pray that an all-caring omnipotent God will watch over Ted and keep Ted here with us and for America. Ted...(sobs), Ted...my dear friend, I love you. And I miss you....and Erma, Erma, Erma, my darling wife Erma, would want to say, thank God for you, Ted. Thank God for you. (Regarding Sen. Ted Kennedy's discovery of a brain tumor and consequent surgery)
• Robert Byrd is already recognized as an American icon. Without question, when history is written, Senator Byrd will hold a prominent place as a Senate legend.
• Robert C. Byrd is truly a legend in his own time. He stands larger than life, not only for his accomplishments, but also for his principles.
• Bob Byrd personifies what our Founding Fathers were thinking about when they were thinking about a United States Senate. He brings the kind of qualities that the Founding Fathers believed were so important for service to the Nation.
• His number one priority has always been the people of West Virginia. It has been a great example for all of us to never lose sight of the fact that you are elected by the people from your State and the people in your State should have first priority.
• The final chapter in Robert Byrd's history is not likely to be written for some time, yet it is safe to say that he has set a standard as a Senator, as a legislative leader, and as a statesman that will stand among the best as long as there is a Senate.
• There are still those people, like Senator Byrd, who exemplify the qualities of leadership strong personal character and a sense of virtues and principles that inspire others to greatness.
• When future historians are writing about the 20th century Senate, Senator Robert Byrd will surely be remembered as one of the giants who followed in the footsteps of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.
• It has been said that great men are like eagles. They do not flock together. You find them one at a time, soaring alone, using their skill and their strengths to reach new heights and to seek new horizons. Such a man and such an eagle is Robert Byrd.
• The old-fashioned conservatives like Richard Cobden condemned it harshly, just like Senator Robert Byrd condemns what's going on today. The real conservatives are different from the ones that call themselves that.
• The training of these poor creatures to turn themselves into fighting machines is simply barbaric. Barbaric! Barbaric! Barbaric! Let that word resound from hill to hill, and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley across this broad land! Barbaric! Barbaric...may God help those poor souls who would be so cruel. Barbaric! Hear me! Barbaric!

robert byrd