March 13, 2003 http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.... Watch the full speech: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/2010/10/robert-byrd-iraq-war-speech-2003....
Byrd was elected to an unprecedented ninth consecutive full 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. On November 18, 2009, he became the longest serving member in congressional history with 56 years, 320 days of combined service in the House and Senate, passing Carl Hayden, an Arizona politician. Previously, he had held the record for the longest unbroken tenure in the Senate (Thurmond resigned during his first term and was re-elected seven months later). Including his tenure as a state legislator from 1947 to 1953, Byrd's service on the political front exceeded 60 continuous years. Byrd, who never lost an election, cast his 18,000th vote on 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. Not only was Byrd the only person to remain in the Senate for that entire period, but he outlived every other senator who had seniority over him.
Byrd was the last surviving senator to have voted on a bill giving statehood to a U.S. territory. He came to the Senate before 13 current or former Senators were born: incumbents Bob Casey, Jr., Amy Klobuchar, Blanche Lincoln, John Thune, David Vitter, Mark Pryor, Mark Begich, Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand and George LeMieux, and former senators John E. Sununu, Peter Fitzgerald, and President Barack Obama.
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 had since said he regretted. 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 a member of the wing of the Democratic Party which opposed desegregation and civil rights imposed by the federal government. However, despite his early career in the KKK, Byrd was linked to such senators as John C. Stennis, J. William Fulbright and 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 was a member of the Senate Democratic leadership starting in 1967, when he was elected as secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference from 1967 to 1971. He became Senate Majority Whip, or the second highest 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.
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Robert Byrd: "On the Brink of War" Iraq War Speech - Part 1 (2003)by thefilmarchive4,025 views
@DG3744 not surprising.
Mister006 2 months ago
@Mister006 i dont get it!!
DG3744 2 months ago
R.I.P. Senator Byrd, All 4483 Soldiers that died in Iraq, all innocent Iraqi civilians, all mistreated detainees in US Care, and all those who have/will take their own lives because of this war. This day of the Official End of the War in Iraq.
Mister006 2 months ago
@DG3744 If even just a few million more white people had the clear foresight of Senator Byrd, I'd scream white power up and down the road for the next 10 years... and I'm Black.
Mister006 2 months ago
white power!!
DG3744 1 year ago
@michaelmansuniv yeah and he didnt support his KKK leadership because he grew up that way and someone opened his eyes to a better road and became a civil rights supporter
bobrec3GTI 1 year ago
100's Billions of Dollars. Yep! Try One Trillion. Useless, Futile. Invaded a Sovereign Nation and Murdered the President.
michaelmansuniv 1 year ago
Brilliant speech. This man was a genius. KKK or not. He knew that Bush is an idiot.
michaelmansuniv 1 year ago 2