S156 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 7, 2009 

part of an economic stimulus package. 

I also asked that he consider these 

partnerships that we have seen work so 

well in our State, and that matching 

grants on the Federal level to work 

with the local communities would be 

one way to spur broadband development. 

I finally asked him to look at the 

fact that this is not just about communities that have no access, it is also 

about communities that have bad access or slow access or too expensive access. If we really want to get the broadband infrastructure in place, we have 

to make it work for everyone, just as 

what Dwight D. Eisenhower did with 

the highway system in the 1950s, and 

just as President Roosevelt did with 

rural electrification in the 1930s and 

1940s. 

I believe any economic stimulus 

package must include mechanisms designed to bring affordable and fast 

broadband to this country. An economic stimulus package should fully 

fund the Broadband Data Improvement 

Act, which I cosponsored and which 

passed last Congress. 

Any economic stimulus package, as I 

mentioned, must also fund matching 

grants for community-level partnerships that demonstrate strong cooperation among local governments, businesses, schools, health care, and others. 

Finally, one aspect of the Nation’s 

information infrastructure that may 

continue to elude us absent some type 

of Federal involvement is the creation 

of an advanced, interoperable communications network for public safety. 

I still remember hearing when one of 

our police officers was shot and killed 

in St. Paul, MN, how those who were 

trying to apprehend the person, the 

murderer in this case, were trying to 

communicate. When they were up in 

the helicopter, they literally had to 

have multiple walkie talkies and telephones, sometimes six or seven, to try 

to match up with all the phone systems 

that were in use across the area. 

Well, since then we have had improvements in the large metropolitan 

area of the Twin Cities in our interoperability, but we do not have that 

kind of matching and that kind of cooperation in the rural parts of our 

State, nor do we have it across the 

country. 

The first responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. The fact 

that our Nation’s police, fire, and other 

first responders, including those in our 

rural areas, still do not have access to 

such a network more than 7 years after 

the tragic events of September 11 is 

simply unacceptable. I believe consideration of this issue in the context of 

broadband stimulus measures may 

present the best chance to address this 

continuing problem. 

I join the President-elect and so 

many in this Senate in calling for 21stcentury technology to create jobs and 

help our economy be more robust and 

competitive in the long term. This is 

about creating immediate jobs, and we 

can get that with technological infrastructure. But it is also about creating 

jobs in a way that leaves us with something that will actually move this 

economy forward. 

This technological infrastructure, 

whether it be the electricity grid or 

whether it be the broadband I have spoken about today, is really our rural 

electrification. It is our interstate 

highway program. It is our generation’s chance to build this infrastructure in a way that will fit the changing 

needs of this country and allow us to 

compete on the world stage. 

Madam President, I yield the floor 

and suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ROBERT 

BYRD 

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I 

couldn’t help thinking today, as we 

were sitting in our weekly caucus— 

that the senior member of our party 

here in the Senate and the most senior 

Member of the Senate, and the senior 

Senator from West Virginia, the distinguished ROBERT C. BYRD, has now 

served 50 years which is an all time 

record as the longest serving Senator 

in our country. 

I have had the privilege of serving beside Senator BYRD for 34 years and am 

proud to call him a very good friend. 

When I first came to the Senate as a 

new Member, it was ROBERT BYRD who 

took me aside and talked to me about 

the rules of the Senate. Senator BYRD

took the time to speak about the rules 

and history of the Senate, but he also 

talked about the customs, and practices of this body. He spoke of the way 

you treat each other, and how you 

treat members of the other party. He 

also explained the customary order of 

recognition, the kinds of courtesies 

you use and the importance of taking 

into consideration the needs of another 

Senator. 

Senator BYRD and I have sat here 

through inaugurations of Presidents, 

and we have traveled together to funerals of colleagues with whom we have 

served. His late wife, Erma, and my 

wife, Marcelle, were friends and would 

often ride together down to the Senate 

for Senate gatherings. I know I would 

always enjoy running into Erma and 

BOB in the grocery store in McLean, 

VA. After a while, we would tend to 

forget what it was we had gone to the 

store for because we would be catching 

up on the news of the Senate. Throughout it all, BOB BYRD has always had 

that great sense of what it means to be 

a Senator. 

I said many times on the floor of this 

Senate that there are only 100 of us 

who have the privilege at any given 

time to serve here and the American 

people. BOB BYRD has always understood that better than most of us ever 

will. We can be and should be the conscience of the Nation. 

We are, above all, a Senate of reasonable men and women who live by very 

specific rules, and we hurt both the 

Senate and the country if we ignore 

those rules. So many times I have 

heard Senator BYRD, who would see us 

moving away from the rules which 

guide us, stand up to address the Chair 

and remind each one of us what it 

means to be a Senator, what it means 

to protect those principals and what it 

means to serve this country. 

Senators come and go. All of us will 

at some time leave this body. But 

those Senators who do the most to uphold and keep the functions and history of the Senate alive are the ones 

who will make it a better place for the 

next generation of Senators. Senator 

BYRD has authored histories of this 

Chamber, but then he has also lived the 

history of this Chamber. 

I salute my good friend from West 

Virginia. I look forward to serving with 

him for years to come. 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Madam President, I rise today to honor a giant of 

the Senate, my colleague and the senior Senator from West Virginia, ROBERT C. BYRD. 

Yesterday we watched a number of 

new Senators take an enormously important oath to serve our country and 

to defend our Constitution. I was included in taking that oath and I 

couldn’t help but think of my new colleagues. If these new Senators are 

looking for an inspiration, a guiding 

light, or a model, the way that I did 

some years ago, they need look no further than the seat directly behind our 

distinguished majority leader. 

In that seat they will find a man who 

took that same oath that we did 50 

years ago today. Senator BYRD has 

taken that oath a total of nine times. 

He has cast more votes than anyone in 

the history of the Senate. He has held 

more leadership positions than anyone 

in the history of the Senate. He has 

served longer than anyone in the Senate. He has literally written the book 

on the Senate and lived the story of 

the Senate over five decades. 

ROBERT C. BYRD is nothing short of a 

legend. However, 50 years ago today he 

was a young man from West Virginia 

who married a coal miner’s daughter. 

He had spent 4 years in the West Virginia Legislature and 6 years in the 

U.S. House of Representatives. 

No one could know in 1959 that he 

would be a legend in 50 years. What 

they did know was ROBERT CARLYLE

BYRD was an ambitious self-starter 

who would put himself through law 

school while serving in the U.S. Congress. 

They knew Senator BYRD was always 

willing to help a colleague and to provide advice and guidance. 

In 1959 they knew ROBERT BYRd had 

married his grade school sweetheart— 


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January 7, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S157 

Erma Ora—who would stand with him 

her entire life and was just as beloved 

as he was in West Virginia and in 

Washington. Senator BYRD always 

knew Erma’s greatness saying she was 

not only his wife but his best counselor. 

Speaking of West Virginia, the Senate knew from his first days here that 

he would advocate fiercely for the citizens of our State and throughout the 

years would bring prosperity to West 

Virginia. 

While they knew these things in 1959, 

today we know Senator BYRD as the 

conscience of the Senate. We know him 

as the Senator with the greatest longevity. In West Virginia we now know 

him as the West Virginian of the 20th 

century and I am glad the Nation has 

had the opportunity to get to know 

Senator BYRD over these last 50 years. 

I know my colleagues join me in congratulating Senator BYRD on a recordsetting 50 years in the Senate. Senator, 

I wish you many more. 

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I 

want to join Senator REID and all of 

my colleagues in congratulating Senator ROBERT BYRd on reaching yet another historic milestone in his lifetime 

of public service. 

In the history of the U.S. Senate, 

only one Senator, ROBERT CARLYLE

BYRD, has served for 50 years. 

A half century of service to his State, 

our Nation, this institution, and our 

Constitution. That is a remarkable 

achievement and one that we are not 

likely to see again for a very long time. 

Senator BYRD is, of course, a great 

student of history and the author of 

the definitive work on the history of 

the Senate. In fact, one could say that 

ROBERT C. BYRD is Senate history. 

Senator BYRD has served with (not 

under, with) 11 Presidents—very soon 

to be 12 Presidents. 

He was the first U.S. Senator ever to 

cast 15,000 votes, and he is the only 

Senator ever to cast 18,000 votes. 

Senator BYRD has served as majority 

leader, and held more leadership positions than any Senator in history. 

To help put the length of his service 

in perspective, consider a few facts: 

When Senator BYRD cast his first 

vote in the Senate—on January 8, 

1959—his colleagues included Senators 

John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. 

Vice President Richard Nixon was the 

Presiding Officer. Hawaii was not yet a 

State. And a state-of-the-art computer 

would have taken up half of the space 

of this Chamber and had roughly the 

same amount of computing power as a 

Palm Pilot. 

He has been a candidate for election 

13 times—10 times as a candidate for 

the Senate and 3 times as a candidate 

for the House. He won every time. 

And he has become perhaps the most 

popular political figure in West Virginia history. He was named West Virginian of the Century by the residents 

of his home State. 

Senator BYRD’s recent reelection to 

this body is a testimony to West Virginians’ enduring respect and admiration for this proud son of ‘‘the Mountain State.’’ 

It is an honor to serve with this giant 

of Senate history, and to share with 

him this milestone. Again, I commend 

him and congratulate him. 

Madam President, I yield the floor, 

and I suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, 

I ask unanimous consent the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, 

I would like to offer my very sincere 

and heartfelt congratulations to the 

President pro tempore of this body, 

Senator ROBERT BYRD. He has served in 

the body for 50 years. I have had the 

privilege of working on the Appropriations Committee with him. There has 

been no one who has been more faithful 

to the Constitution, to the goals of the 

Senate or who has served this Senate 

more honorably. I wish to say congratulations, Mr. Chairman. May you 

have many more years. 

f 

LAWFUL INTERROGATION AND 

DETENTION ACT 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, 

I would like to speak—and I am joined 

on the floor by my comember of the Intelligence Committee, Senator RON

WYDEN, who will also speak on this 

issue—about the bill that Senators 

ROCKEFELLER, WYDEN and WHITEHOUSE

and I introduced yesterday. It is the 

Lawful Interrogation and Detention 

Act. 

I began this effort some time ago because I believe very strongly it is time 

to end the failed experiment at Guantanamo. It is time to repudiate torture 

and secret disappearances. It is time to 

end the outsourcing of coercive interrogations to outside contractors. 

I believe it is time to return to the 

norms and values that have driven the 

United States to greatness since the 

days of George Washington but have 

been tarnished in the past 7 years. 

That is what both Senator WYDEN and 

I hope this bill will do. 

I have sent a copy of it to Presidentelect Obama’s transition team. I have 

had occasion to talk with him about it 

and indicated that we look to work 

closely with him. 

What this bill would do is require the 

President to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay within 12 

months. The need to close this facility 

is clear. Along with the abuses at Abu 

Ghraib, Guantanamo has been decried 

throughout the world. It has helped our 

enemies recruit, it has reduced America’s credibility worldwide, strained relationships with our allies, and created 

a misguided dual legal system. 

Additionally, the Supreme Court now 

has ruled four times that the procedures put in place at Guantanamo are 

illegal. First, in Rasul v. Bush, the 

Court ruled the administration could 

not hold detainees outside U.S. law on 

Guantanamo soil; second, Hamdi v. 

Rumsfeld, in which the Court ruled the 

Government could not detain a U.S. 

citizen without due process and struck 

down the executive’s process of labeling detainees as unlawful enemy combatants; third, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, in 

which the Court struck down the administration’s process for trying detainees outside the civilian legal system or the Uniform Code of Military 

Justice; and most recently in 

Boumediene, in which the Court ruled 

that detainees must be afforded habeas 

corpus. 

Guantanamo was explicitly created 

to be a separate and lesser system of 

justice, to hold people captured on or 

near the battlefield in Afghanistan indefinitely. In 7 years, it has produced 

three convictions, including Australian 

David Hicks—who agreed to a plea bargain to get off the island, and Osama 

bin Laden’s driver, Salim Hamdan, 

whose sentence is almost already up. 

The hard part about closing Guantanamo is not deciding to go do it; it is 

figuring out what to do with the remaining detainees. Under the Lawful 

Interrogation and Detention Act, the 

approximately 250 individuals now 

being held there would be handled in 

one of five ways. 

No. 1, they can be charged with a 

crime and tried in the United States in 

the Federal civilian or military justice 

systems. These systems have handled 

terrorists and other dangerous individuals before and are capable of dealing 

with classified evidence and other unusual factors. 

Second, individuals could be transferred to an international tribunal, if 

such a tribunal exists. 

Third, detainees could be returned to 

their native countries or, if that is not 

possible, they could be transferred to a 

different country. 

To date, more than 500 men have 

been sent from Guantanamo to the custody of other countries. Recently, Portugal and other nations have suggested 

they would be open to taking some of 

the remaining detainees as a way to 

help close Guantanamo. That is good 

news. 

If there are detainees who cannot be 

charged with crimes or transferred to 

the custody of another country, there 

is a fourth option. If the Secretary of 

Defense and the Director of National 

Intelligence agree an individual poses 

no security threat to the United 

States, the U.S. Government may release him. This may work, for example, 

for the Chinese Uighurs remaining at 

Guantanamo. I believe five or six 

Uighurs have already been released. 

The District Court for the District of 

Columbia has ordered that the remaining 17 Uighurs be released into our 

country. That decision has been stayed 

upon appeal. 

Finally, for detainees who cannot be 

addressed in any one of the other four 


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