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WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Sen. Robert Byrd's stem-winding opposition to the war in Iraq wasn't in fashion when U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein more than five years ago. Over the course of the war, the West Virginia Democrat, now 90, has become increasingly frail, but the old fire — along with some tears — was back as he kicked off debate on a war funding bill on Tuesday. Speaking from a wheelchair in only his second speech since falling in February at his Virginia home and suffering other health setbacks, Byrd angrily denounced President Bush for leaving his successor with a...

I want to express my congratulations to Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WVa.), who recently became the longest-serving senator in American history. When asked what was the most important vote that he ever made, Byrd replied that it was his vote against the Iraq war. Byrd went on to explain that he has cast more than 17,000 votes during his distinguished career but he stated his most important vote was, without question, against a ''pre-emptive'' war against a country that never invaded the United States. I recall during the fall of 2002, Byrd admonished his fellow members of Congress, who were ''deadly...

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) plans to announce today that he will seek a ninth term, ending months of speculation the 87-year-old lawmaker was considering retiring next year to avoid a grueling re-election campaign.

Charleston, W.Va. (AP) -- Eighty-seven-year-old Democrat Robert C. Byrd announced Tuesday he will seek a record ninth term in the Senate. Using the Capitol Rotunda as a stage, Byrd told supporters he was "ready to go. Another round." "I have the best job in America because I represent you, the people of West Virginia. And I want to keep this job," he said. Byrd has 47 years in the Senate and will become the longest-serving member in its history in June. He previously served six years in the U.S. House, and before that terms in both chambers of the West...

In the early 1940s, a politically ambitious butcher from West Virginia named Bob Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to form a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. After Byrd had collected the $10 joining fee and $3 charge for a robe and hood from every applicant, the "Grand Dragon" for the mid-Atlantic states came down to tiny Crab Orchard, W.Va., to officially organize the chapter. As Byrd recalls now, the Klan official, Joel L. Baskin of Arlington, Va., was so impressed with the young Byrd's organizational skills that he urged him to go into politics. "The country...

Voters have been forgiving Klan ties since 1952 election Readers know where I stand on Bob Byrd. I greeted with glee the independent poll that showed his vulnerability. But vulnerable ain't dead. The same poll that showed Shelley Moore Capito within three points of beating him also showed that 62 percent of voters view Byrd favorably. Byrd has been elected to federal office 11 out of 11 times. In May, he showed he could do it again. He began the month as the champion of the filibuster. By month's end, he was Monte Hall of "Let's Make A Deal" fame....

Senator's Hitler Comparison on Judicial Nominees "Offensive and Insensitive" New York, NY, March 2, 2005 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed outrage at the remarks of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who suggested that some Republican tactics on judicial nominations were similar to Adolf Hitler's use of power in Nazi Germany. In remarks from the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Byrd compared a Senate rule cutting off debate on nominations to Hitler's use of constitutional means to push legislation through the German Reichstag at the start of the Nazi era. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement: It...

They say a leopard can't change its spots. Can a one-time Klansman change his, umm, sheets? The way Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) acted this week, it's fair to ask. Byrd was one of three Democratic senators who used a parliamentary maneuver to delay a full vote on the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to be the next secretary of state. Rice had been approved by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee by an overwhelming 16-2 margin. The only "nay" votes were from sore-loser John Kerry and loony lefty Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). [snip] But Byrd stepped in to block the vote,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite his public dislike for coal, John Kerry can win West Virginia's five important electoral votes by going there and getting ``that dirty dust on his hands and on his face,'' the state's senior senator said Sunday. Also, said Sen. Robert Byrd, history's second longest-serving senator behind the late Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, ``Always, always remember that sovereignty rests, John Kerry, sovereignty rests with the people of this country.''Appearing on NBC's ``Meet the Press,'' Byrd was asked whether a reference to coal as ``a dirty energy source'' on the Democratic presidential aspirant's campaign Web site makes...

<p>Scroll down half way on the Fox News home page to watch tonight's Britt Hume segment on Sen. Dodd talking about Sen. Byrd - will the mainstream press ever pick this up?</p>