Norton Offers Condolences on the Passing of Senator Robert Byrd

Norton Offers Condolences on the Passing of Senator Robert Byrd

WASHINGTON, DC- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) issued the following statement on the passing of Senator Robert Byrd:

"I offer my condolences to the family of Senator Robert Byrd, with whom I worked with over the years. The long career of the longest serving senator surely will be remembered. To his credit, Senator Byrd, long ago, repudiated his membership in the Ku Klux Klan and his filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, not only by repeated unequivocal apologies, but also by voting for many civil rights bills, the ultimate act of apology and redemption. However, I regret that the senator did not support the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act, a significant failing that was out of step with his support of other civil rights legislation. When I was first elected, I joked with the senator that I had gotten on a subcommittee that would help me keep him from stealing jobs from the District. He and I had a good laugh. Now I am chair of that subcommittee. So, as I look back at the senator's career, to be fair, Senator Byrd, who often chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, was more often open and fair to the city."