Max Baucus

Montana

Montana ( /mɒnˈtænə/ (help·info)) is a state in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other 'island' ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographic and geographical fact is reflected in the state's name, derived from the Spanish word montaña 'mountain', from Latin. The state nickname is the "Treasure State." Other nicknames include "Land of Shining Mountains," "Big Sky Country," and the slogan "The Last Best Place." The state ranks fourth in area, but 44th in population, and therefore has the third lowest population density in the United States. The economy is primarily based on ranching and wheat farming in the east, lumber and tourism in the west, oil and coal in the east, and hard rock mining in the west. Millions of tourists annually visit Glacier National Park, the Battle of Little Bighorn site, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.

With a land area of 145,552 square miles (376,978 km²) the state of Montana is the fourth largest in the United States (after Alaska, Texas, and California). To the north, Montana and Canada share a 545 mile (877 km) border. The state borders the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, more provinces than any other state. To the east, the state borders North Dakota and South Dakota. To the south is Wyoming and to the west and southwest is Idaho.

The topography of the state is diverse, but roughly defined by the Continental Divide, which runs on an approximate diagonal through the state from northwest to south-central, splitting it into two distinct eastern and western regions. Montana is well known for its mountainous western region, most of which are geologically and geographically part of the Northern Rocky Mountains. The Absaroka and Beartooth ranges in the south are technically part of the Central Rocky Mountains. However, about 60% of the state is actually prairie, part of the northern Great Plains. Nonetheless, even east of the Continental Divide and the Rocky Mountain Front, there are a number of isolated "island ranges" that dot the prairie landscape. This island range region covers most of the central third of the state.

The Bitterroot Mountains, one of the longest continuous ranges in the entire Rocky Mountain chain from Alaska to Mexico, divide the state from Idaho to the west with the southern third of the range blending into the Continental Divide. Mountain ranges between the Bitterroots and the top of the Continental Divide include the Cabinet Mountains, the Missions, the Garnet, Sapphire, Flint Creek, and Pintlar ranges.

The northern section of the Divide, where the mountains give way rapidly to prairie, is known collectively as the Rocky Mountain Front and is most pronounced in the Lewis Range located primarily in Glacier National Park. Due to the configuration of mountain ranges in Glacier National Park, the Northern Divide (which begins in Alaska's Seward Peninsula) crosses this region and turns east in Montana at Triple Divide Peak. Thus, the Waterton, Belly, and Saint Mary rivers flow north into Alberta, Canada, joining the Saskatchewan River and ultimately emptying into Hudson Bay.

East of the Divide, several parallel ranges march across the southern half of the state, including the Gravelly Range, the Tobacco Roots, the Madison Range, Gallatin Range, Big Belt Mountains, Bridger Mountains, Absaroka Mountains, and the Beartooth Mountains. The Beartooth Plateau is the largest continuous land mass over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the lower 48 states and contains the highest point in the state, Granite Peak, 12,799 feet (3,901 m) high.

Between the mountain ranges are many scenic valleys, rich in agricultural resources and rivers, and possessing multiple opportunities for tourism and recreation. Among the best-known areas are the Flathead Valley, Bitterroot Valley, Big Hole Valley, and Gallatin Valley.

East and north of this transition zone are expansive sparsely populated Northern Plains, with rolling tableland prairies, "island" mountain ranges, and scenic badlands extending into the Dakotas, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Wyoming. The isolated island ranges east of the Divide include the Castle Mountains, Crazy Mountains, Little Belt Mountains, Snowy Mountains, Sweet Grass Hills, Bull Mountains. The Pryor Mountains South of Billings and, in the southeastern corner of the state near Ekalaka, the Long Pines and Short Pines.

The area east of the divide in the north-central portion of the state is known for the dramatic Missouri Breaks and other significant rock formations. Three stately buttes south of Great Falls are familiar landmarks. These buttes, Square Butte, Shaw Butte, and Crown Butte, are made of igneous rock, which is dense and has withstood weathering for many years. The underlying surface consists of shale. Many areas around these buttes are covered with clay surface soils. These soils have been derived from the weathering of the Colorado Formation. Farther east, areas such as Makoshika State Park near Glendive, and Medicine Rocks State Park near Ekalaka also highlight some of the most scenic badlands regions in the state.

Montana also contains a number of rivers, many of which are known for "blue-ribbon" trout fishing, but which also provide most of the water needed by residents of the state, as well as being a source of hydropower. Montana is the only geographic area in the world whose rivers form parts of three major watersheds (i.e. where two continental divides intersect): The Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay which are divided atop Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.

West of the divide, the Clark Fork of the Columbia (not to be confused with the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River) rises in the Rocky Mountains near Butte and flows northwest to Missoula. There it is joined by the Blackfoot River and Bitterroot River and further downstream by the Flathead River before entering Idaho near Lake Pend Oreille, becoming part of the Columbia River, which flows to the Pacific Ocean. The Clark Fork discharges the greatest volume of water of any river exiting the state. The Flathead River and Kootenai River also drain major portions of the western half of the state.

East of the divide, the Missouri River, formed by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers, crosses the central part of the state, flows through the Missouri breaks and enters North Dakota. The Yellowstone River rises in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, flows north to Livingston, Montana, where it then turns east and flows across the state until it joins the Missouri River a few miles east of the North Dakota boundary. The Yellowstone River is the longest undammed, free-flowing river in North America. Other major Montana tributaries of the Missouri include the Milk, Marias, Tongue, and Musselshell Rivers. Montana also claims the disputed title of possessing the "world's shortest river," the Roe River, just outside Great Falls, Montana. These rivers ultimately join the Mississippi River and flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

Water is of critical importance to the state for both agriculture and hydropower. In addition to its rivers, the state is home to Flathead Lake, the largest natural fresh-water lake in the United States west of the Great Lakes. Man-made reservoirs dot Montana's rivers, the largest of which is Fort Peck Reservoir, on the Missouri river, contained by the largest earth-filled dam in the world.

Vegetation of the state includes ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, douglas fir, larch, spruce, aspen, birch, red cedar, hemlock, ash, alder, rocky mountain maple and cottonwood trees. Forests cover approximately 25% of the state. Flowers native to Montana include asters, bitterroots, daisies, lupins, poppies, primroses, columbine, lilies, orchids and dryads. Several species of sagebrush and cactus and many species of grasses are common. Many species of mushrooms and lichens are also found in the state.

Montana contains Glacier National Park, 'The Crown of the Continent,' and portions of Yellowstone National Park, including three of the Park's five entrances. Other federally recognized sites include the Little Bighorn National Monument, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Big Hole National Battlefield, Lewis and Clark Caverns, and the National Bison Range. Montana has eight National Forests and over 20 National Wildlife Refuges. The Federal government administers 36,000,000 acres (146,000 km²). 275,000 acres (1,100 km²) are administered as state parks and forests.

Several Indian reservations are located in Montana: Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Crow Indian Reservation, Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, Blackfeet Indian Reservation, and the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Montana is a large state with considerable variation in geography, and so the climate is equally varied. The state spans from 'below' the 45th parallel (i.e. the halfway line between the equator and the north pole) to the 49th parallel, and elevations range from under 2,000 feet to almost 13,000 feet above sea level. The western half is mountainous, interrupted by numerous large valleys. Eastern Montana is plains, badlands, broken by hills and isolated mountain ranges, and has a semi-arid continental climate The Continental Divide runs north-south through the western mountainous half, and has a large effect on the climate. It restricts the flow of warmer air from the Pacific from moving east, and cooler, drier continental moving west. West of the divide the climate is described as modified northern Pacific coast climate, with milder winters, cooler summers, less wind, and a longer growing season. In the winter Valley fog and low clouds often form in the valleys west of the divide, but this is rarely seen in the east.

Average daytime temperatures vary from 28 degrees Fahrenheit in January to 84.5 degrees Fahrenheit in July. The variation in geography leads to great variation in temperature. Hot weather occurs in the eastern plains on occasion; the highest observed being 117° at Glendive on July 20, 1893, and Medicine Lake on July 5, 1937. Throughout the state summer nights are generally cool and pleasant. Temperatures decrease with altitude, and hot weather is unknown above 4,000 ft (1,200 m) Snowfall is not unknown any month of the year in the central part of Montana, but is quite rare in July and August.

The coldest temperature on record for Montana is the coldest temperature for the entire continental U.S. On January 20, 1954 -70 °F was recorded at a gold mining camp near Rogers Pass. Temperatures vary greatly on such cold nights, and Helena, 40 miles (64 km) to the southeast had a low of only −36 °F (−37.8 °C). Winter cold spells last a week or so. They are the result of cold continental air coming south from Canada. The front is often well defined, causing a large temperature drop in a 24 hour period. Conversely, air flow from the southwest results in "Chinooks". These steady 25-50mph (or more) winds can suddenly warm parts of Montana, especially areas just to the east of the mountains, where temperatures sometimes rise into the 50's and 60's.

Indeed, Loma, Montana is the location of the most extreme recorded temperature change in a 24-hour period in the United States. On January 15, 1972, the temperature rose from −54 °F (−48 °C) to 49 °F (9 °C); a dramatic example of the regional Chinook wind in action.

Average annual precipitation is 15 inches (380 mm), but great variations are seen. The mountain ranges block the moist Pacific air, holding moisture in the western valleys, and creating rain shadows to the east. Heron in the west receives the most precipitation, 34.70 inches. On the east side of a mountain range the valleys are much drier; Lonepine averages 11.45, and Deer Lodge 11.00 inches of precipitation. The mountains themselves can get over 100 inches (2,500 mm), for example the Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park gets 105 inches (2,700 mm). Perhaps the driest is an area southwest of Belfry that averaged only 6.59 inches (167 mm) over a 16 year period. Most of the larger cities get 30 to 50 inches (1,300 mm) of snow each year. Mountain ranges themselves can accumulate 300 inches (7,600 mm) of snow during a winter. Heavy snowstorms can occur as early as September or as Late as May, but most snow falls from November to March.

The climate has become warmer in Montana and continues to do so. The glaciers in Glacier National Park have receded and are predicted to melt away completely in a few decades. Many Montana cities set heat records during July 2007, the hottest month ever recorded in Montana. Winters are warmer, too, and have fewer cold spells. Previously these cold spells had killed off bark beetles which are now attacking the forests of Western Montana. The combination of warmer weather, attack by beetles, and mismanagement during past years has led to a substantial increase in the severity of forest fires in Montana.

Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the state of Montana. Groups included the Crow in the south-central area, the Cheyenne in the southeast, the Blackfeet, Assiniboine and Gros Ventres in the central and north-central area and the Kootenai and Salish in the west. The smaller Pend d'Oreille and Kalispel tribes lived near Flathead Lake and the western mountains, respectively.

Montana east of the continental divide was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Subsequent to the Lewis and Clark Expedition and after the finding of gold and copper (see the Copper Kings) in the state in the late 1850s, Montana became a United States territory (Montana Territory) on May 26, 1864, and the 41st state on November 8, 1889.

Fort Shaw (Montana Territory) was established in Spring 1867. It is located west of Great Falls in the Sun River Valley and was one of three posts authorized to be built by Congress in 1865. The other two posts in the Montana Territory were Camp Cooke on the Judith River and Fort C.F. Smith on the Bozeman Trail in south central Montana Territory. Fort Shaw, named after Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first all African-American regiments, during the American Civil War, was built of adobe and lumber by the 13th Infantry. The fort had a parade ground that was 400 ft² (120 m²), and consisted of barracks for officers, a hospital, and a trading post, and could house up to 450 soldiers. Completed in 1868, it was used by military personnel until 1891.

After the close of the military post, the government established Fort Shaw as a school to provide industrial training to young Native Americans. The Fort Shaw Indian Industrial School was opened on April 30, 1892. The school had at one time 17 faculty members, 11 Indian assistants and 300 students. The school made use of over 20 of the buildings built by the Army.

The revised Homestead Act of the early 1900s greatly affected the settlement of Montana. This act expanded the land that was provided by the Homestead Act of 1862 from 160 acres (0.6 km2) to 320 acres (1.3 km2). When the latter act was signed by President William Howard Taft, it also reduced the time necessary to prove up from five years to three years and permitted five months' absence from the claim each year.

In 1908, the Sun River Irrigation Project, west of Great Falls was opened up for homesteading. Under this Reclamation Act, a person could obtain 40 acres (16 ha). Most of the people who came to file on these homesteads were young couples who were eager to live near mountains where hunting and fishing were good. Many of these homesteaders came from the Midwest.

Montana was the scene of the Native Americans' last effort to keep their land, and the last stand of U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was fought near the present day town of Hardin. Montana was also the location of the final battles of the Nez Perce Wars.

Cattle ranching has long been central to Montana's history and economy. The Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Deer Lodge Valley is maintained as a link to the ranching style of the late 19th century. It is operated by the National Park Service but is also a 1,900 acre (7.7 km²) working ranch.

As of 2006, Montana has an estimated population of 997,670, which is an increase of 8,750, or 0.9%, from the prior year and an increase of 33,475, or 3.7%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 13,674 people (that is 58,001 births minus 44,327 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 21,074 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 2,141 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 18,933 people. 16,500 of state residents are foreign-born, accounting for 1.8% of the total population.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 94.8% of the population aged 5 and over speak English at home.

The center of population of Montana is located in Meagher County, in the city of White Sulphur Springs.

While German ancestry is the largest reported European-American ancestry in most of Montana, residents of Scandinavian ancestry are prevalent in some of the farming-dominated northern and eastern prairie regions. There are also several predominantly Native American counties, mostly around each of the seven Indian reservations. The historically mining-oriented communities of western Montana such as Butte have a wider range of ethnic groups, particularly people of Eastern European and Irish ancestry, as well as people who originally emigrated from British mining regions such as Cornwall. Montana is second only to South Dakota in U.S. Hutterite population with several colonies spread across the state. Many of Montana's historic logging communities originally attracted people of Scandinavian, Slavic, and Scots-Irish descent. Montana's Hispanic population is particularly concentrated around the Billings area in south-central Montana, and the highest density of African-Americans is located in Great Falls.

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 169,250; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 50,287; and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 32,726.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Montana's total state product in 2003 was $26 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $25,406, 47th in the nation. However, this number is rapidly increasing. According to the Missoulian, the economy has grown rapidly since 2003; in 2005, Montana ranked 39th in the nation with an average per capita personal income of $29,387.

The economy is primarily based on agriculture, and major crops include wheat, barley, sugar beets, oats, rye, seed potatoes, honey, cherries, and cattle and sheep ranching. Montana is also a relative hub of beer microbrewing, ranking third in the nation in number of craft breweries per capita. There are significant industries for lumber and mineral extraction; the states resources include gold, coal, silver, talc, and vermiculite.

Tourism is also important to the economy with millions of visitors a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.

Montana's personal income tax contains 7 brackets, with rates ranging from 1% to 6.9%. Montana has no sales tax. In Montana, household goods are exempt from property taxes. However, property taxes are assessed on livestock, farm machinery, heavy equipment, automobiles, trucks, and business equipment. The amount of property tax owed is not determined solely by the property's value. The property's value is multiplied by a tax rate, set by the Montana Legislature, to determine its taxable value. The taxable value is then multiplied by the mill levy established by various taxing jurisdictions -- city and county government, school districts and others.

Railroads have been an important method of transportation in Montana since the 1880s. Historically, the state was traversed by the main lines of three east-west transcontinental routes: the Milwaukee Road, the Great Northern, and the Northern Pacific. Today, the BNSF Railway is the state's largest railroad, its main transcontinental route incorporating the former Great Northern main line across the state. Montana RailLink, a privately-held Class II railroad, operates former Northern Pacific trackage in western Montana.

In addition, Amtrak's Empire Builder train runs through the north of the state, stopping in the following towns: Libby, Whitefish, West Glacier, Essex, East Glacier Park, Browning, Cut Bank, Shelby, Havre, Malta, Glasgow, and Wolf Point.

Montana's three largest commercial airports serve Bozeman, Billings, and Missoula; smaller airports Great Falls International Airport Kalispell, Helena, and Butte also serve multiple commercial carriers. Eight smaller communities have airports designated for commercial service under the Essential Air Service program.

Historically, the primary east-west highway route across Montana was U.S. Route 10, which connected the major cities in the southern half of the state. Still the state's most important east-west travel corridor, the route is today served by Interstate 90 and Interstate 94. U.S. Routes 2 and 12 and Montana Highway 200 also traverse the entire state from east to west.

Montana's only north-south Interstate Highway is Interstate 15. Other major north-south highways include U.S. Routes 87, 89, 93 and 191.

The current Governor is Brian Schweitzer (Democrat) who was sworn in on January 3, 2005. Its two U.S. senators are Max Baucus (Democrat) and Jon Tester (Democrat). Montana's congressional representative is Denny Rehberg (Republican).

The state was the first to elect a female member of Congress (Jeannette Rankin) and was one of the first states to give women voting rights (see suffrage). Despite its sizable American Indian population, Montana is one of the most homogenous states — nearly 90% of its residents are of European descent, with a large number of immigrants of German, Irish, Welsh, English, Italian, Slovak and Scandinavian heritage arriving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A significant portion of Chinese (Cantonese) immigrants also came and left an indelible mark on the state, especially in the mining cities of Helena, Butte, and Anaconda.

Historically, Montana is a swing state of cross-ticket voters with a tradition of sending "liberals to Helena (the state capital) and conservatives to Washington." However, there have also been long-term shifts of party control. During the 1970s, the state was dominated by the Democratic Party, with Democratic governors for a 20-year period, and a Democratic majority of both the national congressional delegation and during many sessions of the state legislature. This pattern shifted, beginning with the 1988 election, when Montana elected a Republican governor and sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate for the first time since the 1940s. This shift continued with the reapportionment of the state's legislative districts that took effect in 1994, when the Republican Party took control of both houses of the state legislature, consolidating a party dominance that lasted until 2004. The state last supported a Democrat for president in 1992, when Bill Clinton won a plurality victory. Overall, since 1889 the state has voted for Democratic governors 60% of the time and Democratic presidents 40% of the time, with these numbers being 40/60 for Republican candidates.

In recent years, Montana has been classified as a Republican-leaning state, as the state supported President George W. Bush by a wide margin in 2000 and 2004. However, the state currently has two Democratic U.S. Senators and a Democratic governor (Brian Schweitzer), elected in 2004. In the 2006 midterm elections, Democratic candidate Jon Tester narrowly defeated (by only 3000 votes) incumbent Republican Senator Conrad Burns ,one of several crucial races that allowed the Democratic Party to win the majority in the U.S. Senate. Montana's lone US Representative, Republican Denny Rehberg, easily won reelection in 2006 as well as in 2008. Long time Senator Max Baucus won reelection in 2008 with a massive majority of votes. The state Senate is (as of 2009) controlled by the Republicans. The State House of Representatives is tied with the speaker of the house coming from the democrats. In the 2008 Presidential Election, Montana was considered a swing state, and was ultimately won by Republican John McCain (albeit by a narrow margin of 2 percent).

On April 17th, 2007, Montana became the first state to pass legislation against the federal government's Real ID Act. Gov. Schweitzer signed a bill banning the Montana Motor Vehicle Division from enforcing the new regulations.

Montana is an Alcoholic beverage control state.

The State of Montana has 56 counties.

The Billings Outlaws are a professional indoor football team affiliated with the United Indoor Football league.

All of Montana's four-year colleges and universities field a variety of intercollegiate sports teams. The two largest schools, the University of Montana and Montana State University, are members of the Big Sky Conference and have enjoyed a strong athletic rivalry since the early twentieth century. Most of the smaller four-year schools in the state belong to the Frontier Conference.

Football and basketball are the two most popular sports at the high school level. Montana is one of the few states where the smallest high schools participate in six-man football leagues.

Numerous other sports are played at the club and amateur level, including softball, rugby, and soccer.

Since 1988, the Montana High School All Class Wrestling Tournament has been held in Billings at MetraPark. This event remains one of the most popular high school events each year in Montana.

In 1904 a group of young Native American women, after playing undefeated during their last season, went to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis and defeated all challenging teams and were declared to be world champions. For this they received a large silver trophy with the inscription "World's Fair - St. Louis, 1904 - Basket Ball - Won by Fort Shaw Team".

To read more about this award, and more about Montana read these books.

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United States Senate election in Montana, 2008

The 2008 Montana Election for the United States Senate was held on November 4, 2008. Montana generally gives its presidential electors to Republican candidates, but historically has elected several prominent Democrats to the United States Senate, including Thomas Walsh, Burton K. Wheeler, Mike Mansfield, and Lee Metcalf. Only two Republicans have ever served as U.S. Senator, Zales Ecton and Conrad Burns. Currently, both Senator Max Baucus and Senator Jon Tester are Democrats. In 2004, the state elected Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer, reversing a 16-year trend of electing Republicans to the Governorship. In 2006, the Republican Party took over state House of Representatives in Montana, the only such pick-up for the Republicans.

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Max Baucus

Max Sieben Baucus (born December 11, 1941) is the senior United States Senator from Montana and is a member of the Democratic Party. Baucus is currently chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Finance and the 7th-longest-serving current Senator.

Baucus was born in Helena, Montana Baucus graduated from Helena High School in 1959. He attended Carleton College in Minnesota for a year before transferring to Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics 1964, and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After graduating, he attended Stanford University's law school, receiving his degree in 1967.

After finishing law school, Baucus spent three years as a lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. He moved back to Montana in 1971 to serve as the executive director of the state's Constitutional Convention, also opening a law office in Missoula, Montana.

In November 1973, Baucus was elected to the Montana State Legislature as a state representative from Missoula. In November 1974 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1976.

Baucus was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 7, 1978 for the term beginning January 3, 1979, but was subsequently appointed to the seat by Montana's Democratic Governor Thomas Lee Judge on December 15, 1978 to fill the brief vacancy created by Senator Paul G. Hatfield's resignation. He has served consecutively ever since.

The 2002 Montana elections got national attention when Baucus's opponent, state senator Mike Taylor, accused Baucus of having implied that Taylor was gay in a campaign ad. However, the ad was paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, not by the Baucus campaign. The ad, which alleged that Taylor had embezzled funds from the cosmetology school he once owned, showed footage from the early 1980s of Taylor massaging another man's face while wearing a tight suit with an open shirt. Taylor dropped out of the race and Baucus won with 63 percent of the vote.

Baucus is a moderate member of the Democratic Party, frequently breaking with them on the issues of taxes, the environment, and gun control. Baucus voted for the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. He has usually voted against repealing portions of that bill and more recent tax cut bills that benefit upper income taxpayers. In 1999, he was the only Democrat to vote against an amendment by Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) that sought to "regulate the sale of firearms at gunshows." His environmental record is mixed. Baucus supports Democratic leadership in voting against oil and gas subsidies and ANWR drilling, as well as by voting in favor national standards to reduce oil consumption and spur the use of hydrogren automobiles. However, he has voted against the CAFE emission standards and on increasing federal funds for solar and wind power.

In 2006, he voted for a constitutional amendment prohibiting the physical desecration of the American flag. He supports the death penalty. On other issues, Baucus is more in the mainstream of his party. He opposes the United States embargo against Cuba and the restrictions on travel there. He was one of 26 senators to vote against the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. Despite opposing gay marriage, he voted against a proposed constitutional ban on it and has supported measures to curb job discrimination and hate crimes based on sexual orientation. Baucus also favored a bill that will require online pornography sites to have a .XXX domain, together with Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) Baucus is a strong supporter of Israel. In the Senate, he is one of the largest career recipients of pro-Israel Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, receiving $319,348 as of 2006.

Overall, Baucus has retained a populist image that has kept him consistently popular in his home state of Montana. He has frequently visited places of employment within the state and has personally participated in activities that he calls "Work Days." He has also hosted economic development conferences and can be frequently found hunting and fishing on public lands around Montana .

On February 26, 2009 Baucus and Robert Byrd were sole Democrats to vote against District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009, which provides a voting seat in the United States House of Representatives for the District of Columbia an adding a seat for Utah. The bill passed 61-27 with one Senator not voting.

Baucus had voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, but has joined the Democrats in the Senate in demanding the phased withdrawal of the Levin Amendment (no firm deadline). He voted with a majority of Democrats against the Kerry Amendment (firm deadline for withdrawal).

It was reported on August 1 2006 that Baucus's nephew Marine Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus (September 24, 1977–July 29, 2006) was killed in combat in Al Anbar province, Iraq, on July 29. Phillip Baucus, a 28-year-old resident of Wolf Creek, Montana, had been a member of the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. The funeral was the site of protests by members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

On January 10, 2007, the day of Bush's presidential address on his plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, Baucus spoke against the increases and called for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Baucus sought re-election in 2008 in Montana, a state that has been undergoing political change since 2004 when it elected Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer, and then Democratic Senator Jon Tester in 2006 by a slim margin. Montana was the only state in the U.S. to switch a chamber of its legislature to Republican control in 2006. The legislative chamber had a one-seat Democratic majority that switched to a one-seat Republican majority.

Baucus raised a record amount of money for his 2008 re-election bid, 91 percent of which has come from individuals living outside of Montana. As a result of his significant fund raising advantage, in the week that he announced his intentions to run for re-election, he opened eight state offices – one more than he has official offices in the state. He also announced that he had hired 35 full-time campaign staff members.

He successfully won re-election in 2008.

Baucus visited the United Arab Emirates and Viet Nam from 13 to 20 December 2008 on a mission to reassure the world about the US economy. The trip took him to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City. Baucus said he would be looking for opportunities to expand US commerce with both countries in meetings with government officials and civil society leaders.

Baucus said the United States must strive to understand "boom economies" like the UAE, that relations with Viet Nam must remain "strong," and that he hoped to ensure that Asian markets "are as open as they should be to American products like beef," a key export of his home state of Montana.

Baucus was the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance from June 2001 to January 2003.

Baucus has one son, Zeno.

Baucus has completed a 50-mile ultramarathon and has crewed for female winner and fellow Montana native Nikki Kimball at the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run, which he hopes to run in 2009.

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Robert Byrd

Robert Carlyle Byrd (born November 20, 1917) is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia, and a member and former leader of the Democratic Party. Byrd has been a Senator since January 3, 1959 and is the longest-serving member in the Senate's history. He is also the oldest current member of the United States Congress. He is the first politician in U.S. history to serve as a U.S. senator for 50 uninterrupted years.

Byrd is President pro tempore of the United States Senate, a position that puts him third in the line of presidential succession, behind Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He also held this post previously from 1989 to 1995, briefly in January 2001, and from June 2001 to January 2003. In this role, Sen. Byrd signs bills passed by Congress before they are sent to the president to be signed into law or vetoed.

Byrd holds a wide variation of both liberal and conservative political views. A lifelong Democrat, Byrd did not leave the party as its views shifted from social conservatism to social liberalism, as his views on race changed over time as well. He has also held many leadership positions: Senate Conference Secretary, Majority Whip and twice Majority Leader. He is the only former party leader currently in the Senate.

Byrd was born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr., in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1917. When he was one year old, his mother, Ada Mae Kirby, died in the 1918 Flu Pandemic. In accordance with his mother's wishes, his father, Cornelius Calvin Sale, dispersed the family children among relatives. Sale Jr. was given to the custody of an aunt and an uncle, Vlurma and Titus Byrd, who renamed him Robert Carlyle Byrd and raised him in the coal-mining region of southern West Virginia.

Byrd was valedictorian of Mark Twain High School and, in 1937, he married his high-school sweetheart, Erma Ora James. He eventually attended Mountain State University, Concord University, University of Charleston, and Marshall University, all in West Virginia. He worked as a gas-station attendant, grocery-store clerk, shipyard welder during World War II, and butcher, before he won a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1946, representing Raleigh County from 1947 to 1950. In 1950, he was elected to the West Virginia Senate, where he served from 1951 to 1952. After being elected to the United States House of Representatives, he began night classes at American University's Washington College of Law in 1953, but did not receive his degree until a decade later by which time he was a United States Senator. He also studied at The George Washington University Law School.

In 1951, then–State Delegate Robert Byrd was among the official witnesses of the execution of Harry Burdette and Fred Painter in 1951, which was the first use of the electric chair in West Virginia. Capital punishment in that state was abolished in 1965, the last execution having occurred in 1959.

Byrd joined the Ku Klux Klan when he was 24 in 1942. His local chapter unanimously elected him Exalted Cyclops.

According to Byrd, a Klan official told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd later recalled, "suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did." Byrd held the titles Kleagle (recruiter) and Exalted Cyclops.

In 1952, Byrd was elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives for West Virginia's 6th Congressional District, succeeding E. H. Hedrick, who had decided to step down to run for Governor of West Virginia. He was reelected to the House twice, and served in total from January 3, 1953 to 1959. Byrd defeated Republican incumbent W. Chapman Revercomb for the United States Senate in 1958. He has been reelected eight times. He was West Virginia's junior senator for his first four terms; his colleague from 1959 to 1985 was Jennings Randolph, who had been elected on the same day in a special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Matthew Neely.

While Byrd faced some vigorous Republican opposition in the past, he has not faced truly serious opposition since freshman congressman Cleve Benedict took a run at him in 1982. He has since won by comfortable margins. Despite his tremendous popularity in the state, he has only run unopposed once, in 1976. On two other occasions—in 1994 and 2000—he won all 55 of West Virginia's counties. In his reelection bid in 2000, he won all but seven of West Virginia's precincts. Shelley Moore Capito, a Congresswoman and the daughter of Byrd's longtime foe—former governor Arch Moore, Jr.—briefly considered a challenge to Byrd in 2006, but decided against it.

In the 1960 Democratic Presidential election primaries, Byrd, a close Senate ally of Lyndon B. Johnson, endorsed and campaigned for Hubert Humphrey over frontrunner John F. Kennedy in the crucial West Virginia primary. However, Kennedy won the state's primary and, eventually, the general election.

Byrd was elected to an unprecedented ninth consecutive term in the Senate on November 7, 2006. He became the longest-serving senator in American history on June 12, 2006, surpassing Strom Thurmond of South Carolina with 17,327 days of service. Previously, he already held the record for the longest unbroken tenure in the Senate (Thurmond served 48 years in total, but vacated the office between April and November 1956). Considering his tenure as state legislator from 1947 to 1953, Byrd's service exceeds 60 years, and he has never lost an election. Byrd has cast a total of 18,000 votes as of June 21, 2007, the most of any senator in history. Upon the death of former Senator George Smathers of Florida on January 20, 2007, Byrd became the last living United States Senator from the 1950s. This means that not only has Byrd outlived every other Senator who had seniority over him, but he is the only person in U.S. history to remain in the Senate for that entire period. He will pass Carl Hayden of Arizona as the longest-serving member of Congress (House and Senate tenure combined) in American history if he remains in service until November 19, 2009 (when he will complete 20,774 days in the Congress to Hayden's 20,773). Byrd is the last remaining Senator to have voted on a statehood bill and has served longer in the Senate than nine current colleagues of his have been alive (those being Bob Casey, Jr., Amy Klobuchar, Blanche Lincoln, John Thune, David Vitter, Mark Pryor, Mark Begich, Michael Bennet and Kirsten Gillibrand). Byrd has also served longer in the Senate than his former colleagues President Barack Obama and former Senator John E. Sununu have lived.

Byrd joined with other Southern and border state Democrats to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1964, personally filibustering the bill for 14 hours — a move he now says he regrets. Despite an 83 day filibuster in the Senate, both parties in Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Act, and President Johnson signed the bill into law. He also opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1968. In 2005, Byrd told The Washington Post that his membership in the Baptist church led to a change in his views. In the opinion of one reviewer, Byrd, along with other Southern and border state Democrats, came to realize that he would have to temper "his blatantly segregationist views" and move to the Democratic Party mainstream if he wanted to play a role nationally.

Because of his opposition to desegregation, Byrd was often regarded as a Dixiecrat - a member of this Democratic Party wing that opposed desegregation and civil rights imposed by the Federal Government. However, despite his early career in the KKK, Byrd was linked to such "Dixiecrat" Senators as John C. Stennis, J. William Fulbright or George Smathers, who based their segregationist positions on their conception of states' rights in contrast to, for example, James Eastland, who held a reputation as a committed racist.

Byrd has been a member of the Senate Democratic leadership since 1967, when he was elected as secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference from 1967 to 1971. He became Senate Majority Whip, or the second-ranking Democrat, for six years beginning in 1971. From 1977 to 1989 Byrd was the leader of the Senate Democrats, serving as Senate Majority Leader from 1977 to 1981 and 1987 to 1989 and as Senate Minority Leader from 1981 to 1987.

In 1976, Byrd was the "favorite son" candidate in West Virginia's primary. His easy victory gave him control of the delegation to the national convention. Byrd had the inside track as majority whip, but focused most of his time on campaigning for the office of majority leader, more so than for re-election to the Senate, as he was virtually unopposed for his fourth term. By the time the vote for majority leader was at hand, he had it so wrapped up that his lone rival, Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey, withdrew before the balloting took place.

Byrd is well known for steering federal dollars to West Virginia, one of the country's poorest states. He is called by some the "King of Pork." After becoming chair of the Appropriations Committee in 1989, Byrd sought to steer, over time, a total of $1 billion for public works in the state. He passed that mark in 1991, and the steady stream of funds for highways, dams, educational institutions, and federal agency offices has continued unabated over the course of his membership. More than thirty pending or existing federal projects bear Byrd's name. He commented on his reputation for attaining funds for projects in West Virginia in August 2006 when he called himself "Big Daddy" at the dedication to the Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center.

Byrd is also known for using his knowledge of parliamentary procedure: Before the "Reagan Revolution", Byrd frustrated Republicans with his encyclopedic knowledge of the inner workings of the Senate. From 1977 to 1979 he was described as "performing a procedural tap dance around the minority, outmaneuvering Republicans with his mastery of the Senate's arcane rules." In 1988, while Majority Leader, he moved a call of the Senate, which was adopted by the majority present, in order to have the Sergeant at Arms arrest members not in attendance. One member (Robert Packwood, R-Oregon) was escorted back to the chamber by the Sergeant-at-Arms in order to obtain a quorum.

As the longest-serving Democratic Senator, Byrd has served as President pro tempore four times when his party has been in the majority: from 1989 until the Republicans won control of the Senate in 1995; for 17 days in early 2001, when the Senate was evenly split between parties and outgoing Vice President Al Gore broke the tie in favor of the Democrats; when the Democrats regained the majority in June 2001 after Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican party to become an independent; and again in 2007, as a result of the 2006 Senate elections. In this capacity, Byrd is third in the line of presidential succession, currently behind Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

In 1969, Byrd launched a Scholastic Recognition Award; he also began to present a savings bond to valedictorians from high schools, public and private, in West Virginia. In 1985 Congress approved the nation's only merit-based scholarship program funded through the U.S. Department of Education, which Congress later named in Byrd's honor. The Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program initially comprised a one-year, $1,500 award to students with "outstanding academic achievement" and who had been accepted for enrollment at an institution of higher learning. From 1993 onwards, the program began providing four-year scholarships; students who received the first-year scholarship then could apply for stipends for the next three years.

In 2002 Byrd secured unanimous approval for a major national initiative to strengthen the teaching of "traditional American history" in the K12 public schools. The Department of Education awards in competition $50 to $120 million a year to school districts (in sums of about $500,000 to $1 million). The money goes to teacher training programs, operated in conjunction with universities or museums, geared to improving the content skills of history teachers. Referred to as a "TAH Grant," these awards come under the “Learning the Lessons of American History” initiative to strengthen and improve the teaching of American history in the schools.

Television cameras were first introduced to the House of Representatives on March 19, 1979 with the launch of C-SPAN. Fearing that Americans only saw the Congress as the House of Representatives, Byrd believed that Senate proceedings should be televised to prevent the Senate from becoming the "invisible branch" of government. Thanks in part to Byrd's efforts, cameras came to the Senate floor in June 1986. To help introduce the public to the inner workings of the legislative process, Byrd launched a series of speeches based on his examination of the Roman Republic and the intent of the Framers. Byrd published a four-volume series on Senate history: The Senate: 1789–1989.

For that work, the American Historical Association, presented Byrd with the first Theodore Roosevelt-Woodrow Wilson Award for Civil Service on January 8, 2004. The honorific award is intended to recognize individuals outside the academy "who have made a significant contribution to history." During the 1980s, he delivered a hundred speeches on the floor dealing with various aspects of the Senate's history, which were published in four volumes as The Senate, 1789–1989: Addresses on the History of the Senate (Government Printing Office, 1989–94). The first volume of his series won the Henry Adams Prize of the Society for History in the Federal Government as "an outstanding contribution to research in the history of the Federal Government." He also published The Senate of the Roman Republic: Addresses on the History of Roman Constitutionalism (Government Printing Office, 1995).

On July 19, 2007, Byrd, a self-described dog lover, gave a 25-minute passionate speech in the Senate against dog fighting, in response to the indictment of football player Michael Vick. Byrd called dog fighting a "brutal, sadistic event motivated by barbarism of the worst sort and cruelty of the worst, worst, worst sadistic kind. One is left wondering: 'Who are the real animals: the creatures inside the ring, or the creatures outside the ring?'" (At 8:02 - 8:59). In recognition of the speech, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals named Byrd their 2007 Person of the Year.

In a ranking of the members of the Senate according to the power they are thought to wield, Byrd was deemed the fourteenth-most powerful U.S. Senator for 2007, as well as the twelfth most powerful Democratic Senator.

On May 19, 2008, Byrd released a statement endorsing Barack Obama (D-Illinois) for President of the United States. One week after the West Virginia Democratic Primary, in which Hillary Clinton defeated Obama by 41.32 percent, Byrd said, "Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support." In a written statement, Byrd called Obama "a shining young statesman, who possesses the personal temperament and courage necessary to extricate our country from this costly misadventure in Iraq." When asked in October 2008 about the possibility that the issue of race would influence West Virginia voters, as Obama is an African-American, Byrd replied: "Those days are gone. Gone!" Obama went on to lose West Virginia (by 13 percent), but win the November 2008 presidential election.

On January 26, 2009, Byrd and Russ Feingold were the only two Democrats to vote against the confirmation of Timothy Geithner to be United States Secretary of the Treasury (Bernie Sanders, an independent caucusing with the Democrats, also cast a "nay" vote).

On February 26, 2009 Byrd and Max Baucus of Montana were sole Democrats to vote against District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009, which provides a voting seat in the United States House of Representatives for the District of Columbia an adding a seat for Utah. The bill passed 61-27 with one Senator not voting.

On occasion, Byrd disagreed with President Bill Clinton's policies. Byrd initially said that the impeachment proceedings against Clinton should be taken seriously and conducted completely. Although he harshly criticized any attempt to make light of it, he made the motion to dismiss the charges against the president and effectively suspend proceedings. Even though he voted against both articles of impeachment, he was the sole Democrat to vote for the censure of Clinton. He strongly opposed Clinton's 1993 efforts to allow gays to serve in the military and has also supported efforts to limit gay marriage. However, he opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment, arguing that it was unnecessary because the states already had the power to ban gay marriages. However, when the amendment came to the Senate floor he was one of the two Democratic Senators who voted in favor of the cloture motion. He also opposes affirmative action.

He also voiced praise for George W. Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Likewise, Byrd supported the confirmation of Samuel Alito to replace retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Like most Democrats, however, Byrd opposes Bush's tax cuts and his proposals to change the Social Security program. He is pro-choice and voted against the first ban on partial birth abortions in 1995, but voted for the bill on subsequent occasions. Byrd voted against Laci and Conner's Law, which strongly divided the supporters and opponents of legal abortion.

Byrd is opposed to the Flag Desecration Amendment, saying that, while he wants to protect the American flag, he believed that amending the constitution "is not the most expeditious way to protect this revered symbol of our Republic." In response to the amendment, Byrd has cosponsored S. 1370, a bill that prohibits destruction or desecration of the flag by anyone trying to incite violence or causing a breach of the peace. It also provides that anyone who steals, damages, or destroys a flag on federal property, whether a flag owned by the federal government or a private group or individual, can be imprisoned for up to two years, or can be fined up to $250,000, or both.

In 2003, Byrd voted for the Partial-Birth Abortion Act, which prohibits a form of late-term abortion known as partial-birth abortion.

In 2004, Byrd offered an amendment that would limit the personnel in Plan Colombia, but was defeated in the Senate.

Byrd received a 65 percent vote rating from the League of Conservation Voters for his support of environmentally friendly legislation. Additionally, he received a "liberal" rating of 65.5% by the National Journal — higher than six other Democratic senators.

In 2006, Byrd received 67 percent rating from the ACLU for supporting rights-related legislation.

In 2009, Byrd was one of four Democrats to oppose the confirmation of Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner. Geithner was confirmed 60-34.

Byrd has since explicitly renounced his earlier views on racial segregation. Byrd said that he regrets filibustering and voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and would change it if he had the opportunity. He has stated that joining the KKK was "the greatest mistake I ever made". Byrd has also said that his views changed dramatically after his teenage grandson was killed in a 1982 traffic accident, which put him in a deep emotional valley. "The death of my grandson caused me to stop and think," said Byrd, adding he came to realize that black people love their children as much as he does his.

Byrd is the only Senator to have voted against the nominations of both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court, the only two African Americans to have been nominated to the court. Marshall's confirmation vote came in 1967 when Byrd and other segregationist senators were opposed to the idea of a black integrationist being placed on the court. In order to gain evidence against Marshall's appointment, Byrd asked FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to look into what Byrd believed to be the possibility that Marshall had either connections to communists or a potential communist past. Byrd opposed Thomas because Byrd stated that he was offended by Thomas using the phrase "high-tech lynching of uppity blacks" in his defense. Byrd stated that he was "offended by the injection of racism" into the hearing. He called Thomas's comments a "diversionary tactic". Byrd commented upon the racism issue that Thomas raised by stating that "I (Byrd) thought we were past that stage." Byrd dismissed Thomas' racism charges by stating that Thomas exhibited "arrogance" and Thomas' comments were "nonsense, nonsense." Regarding Anita Hill's sexual harassment charges against Thomas, Byrd believed Hill. Byrd joined 45 other Democrats in their opposition to Thomas. Byrd also opposed some of George W. Bush's judicial and cabinet nominees who were black, notably Federal Judge Janice Rogers Brown and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Despite his opposition to Brown's appointment, Byrd would later ally himself with the Gang of 14 that would ensure that Brown's nomination would not be filibustered.

In the 107th Congress, Byrd suffered some legislative setbacks, particularly with respect to debates on homeland security. Byrd opposed the 2002 law creating the Homeland Security Department, saying it ceded too much authority to the executive branch. He led a filibuster against the resolution granting President George W. Bush broad power to wage a "preemptive" war against Iraq, but he could not get a majority of his own party to vote against cloture and against the resolution. He also led the opposition to Bush's bid to win back the power to negotiate trade deals that Congress cannot amend, but lost overwhelmingly. In the 108th Congress, however, Byrd won his party's top seat on the new Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

Byrd was one of the Senate's most outspoken critics of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He appeared on March 7, 2003 on CNN's Larry King Live to discuss his U.S. Senate floor speeches against the Iraq War Resolution in 2002.

Byrd accused the Bush administration of stifling dissent: "The right to ask questions, debate, and dissent is under attack. The drums of war are beaten ever louder in an attempt to drown out those who speak of our predicament in stark terms. Even in the Senate, our history and tradition of being the world's greatest deliberative body is being snubbed. This huge spending bill — $87 billion — has been rushed through this chamber in just one month. There were just three open hearings by the Senate Appropriations Committee on $87 billion — $87 for every minute since Jesus Christ was born — $87 billion without a single outside witness called to challenge the administration's line." Finally, Byrd quoted Nazi leader Hermann Göring who stated that rushing to war is easy if the proponent of war portrays opponents as unpatriotic.

In July 2004, Byrd released the book Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency about the Bush presidency and the war in Iraq.

Of the more than 17,000 votes he has cast as a Senator, Byrd says he is proudest of his vote against the Iraq war resolution. Byrd has also voted for funding the Iraq war with a timetable for troop withdrawal.

On May 23, 2005, Byrd was one of fourteen Senators (who became known as the "Gang of 14") to forge a compromise on the use of the judicial filibuster, thus securing up and down votes for the judicial nominees and ending the threat of the so-called a "nuclear option". Under the agreement, the senators would retain the power to filibuster a judicial nominee in only an "extraordinary circumstance". It ensured that the appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate.

After several major Republican figures in the state decided not to run against Byrd, the Republican party convinced John Raese to run for this seat. Raese is the owner of radio stations and a newspaper in West Virginia. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1984 against then Governor Jay Rockefeller. In 1988, he ran against Governor Arch Moore for the Republican nomination and lost.

Raese won the May 2006 primary with 58 percent of the vote, defeating five other candidates. Byrd defeated him on November 7, 2006, securing a ninth consecutive term in the Senate.

On February 26, 2008, Byrd was admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for observation following a fall at his home the day before. Byrd attended Senate sessions on that day, but complained of pain and his aides asked him to see the Capitol physician before he went to the hospital. Byrd stayed in the hospital for four days; no broken bones were found. On March 5, he was readmitted because of his reactions to antibiotics and the need for tests to determine a different course of medication, a statement from his office said. Byrd was admitted to the hospital again on June 2, 2008. He recuperated at home and by June 18 had returned to chairing his committee.

On January 20, 2009, Senator Ted Kennedy suffered a seizure during Barack Obama's inaugural luncheon and was taken away in an ambulance. Byrd, seated at the same table, grew emotional over his colleague's continuing seizures and was himself removed to his office. Byrd's office reported that he was fine.

In 1917, Erma Ora James Byrd was born in Floyd County, Virginia to Fred and Mary James, and was the daughter of a coal miner. She had one sister, Beulah Minton. At an early age, the family relocated to Raleigh County, West Virginia, where she met Robert Byrd while students at Mark Twain School.

On May 29, 1937, Erma Ora James Byrd married Robert Byrd when both were just 19 years old. The small ceremony was attended only by their parents at the home of Reverend U.G. Nichols.

Beginning in 1958, Erma was a member of the Senate Wive's Club, and was involved in Senate Wives' Red Cross projects. In 1990, she was selected as Daughter of the Year by the West Virginia Society of Washington, D.C. She was later awarded a degree from the University of Hard Knocks at Alderson-Broaddus College in 1991, and in 1994, Marshall University initiated the Erma Byrd Scholars Program. This was followed with the Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund of the West Virginia University Alumni Association, who established the Erma Ora Byrd Scholarship.

In October 1997, the Erma Byrd Garden at the Graceland Mansion at the Davis and Elkins College was dedicated. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wheeling Jesuit University soon after, which was followed up with the dedication of the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies on the campus.

In May 1999, she was named Mother of the Year by the Thunder of the Tygart Foundation at the birthplace of Anna Jarvis, the surmised founder of Mother's Day. She received the Graduate of Distinction Award from the Education Alliance in Charleston, West Virginia in the same month. In January 2004, the Erma Byrd Gallery at the University of Charleston opened.

On March 25, 2006, Erma Byrd passed away after battling a lengthy illness. On September 13, 2008, Robert Byrd dedicated the West Virginia University Erma Byrd Biomedical Research Center. The building houses the university's Sensory Neurosciences Research Center, the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Cardiovascular Sciences, the School of Pharmacy, and the Multiple Sclerosis and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Center.

Byrd has two children, Mona Byrd Fatemi and Marjorie Byrd Moore; two sons-in-law, Mohammad Fatemi and Jon Moore; five living grandchildren, Erik Byrd Fatemi, Darius Fatemi, and Fredrik Fatemi, Mona Moore, and Mary Anne Moore, and one that is deceased, Michael Moore; and six great-grandchildren, Caroline Byrd Fatemi, Kathryn James Fatemi, Anna Cristina Fatemi, Michael Yoo Fatemi, Emma James Clarkson, and Hannah Byrd Clarkson.

Byrd is not related to Harry F. Byrd and Harry F. Byrd, Jr., both former U.S. Senators from Virginia.

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