http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/sen-byrd-hospit.htmlSen. Byrd Hospitalized
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Share June 02, 2008 9:50 PM
ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports: On the same day the second longest sitting senator had brain surgery, the longest sitting senator was hospitalized with a fever.
Ninety-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., was hospitalized tonight after staffers noticed he was lethargic at work and a caregiver discovered he had a high temperature.
He is remaining overnight on the advice of his doctor, according to his spokesman, Jesse Jacobs, who said he was unsure which hospital his boss was at.
It is unclear at this point if the hospitalization is anything more than precautionary.
Byrd, who has had a spate of health problems recently -- he fell and also had a bad reaction to antibiotics, both of which led to hospital stays earlier this year.
And he has been seen on the Senate floor giving speeches from a wheelchair of late.
But today he was at work and was the lone Democrat to join 13 Republicans in opposing a motion to consider a bill that would cap the amount of greenhouse gas U.S. companies can unleash.
Ever the representative of his coal-mining state and still the husband of a coal miner's daughter even though his wife Erma died in March of 2006 after 69 years of marriage, Byrd is very protective of the coal industry.
Rumblings from earlier in the year that he might be too infirmto maintain his chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee seemed to have quieted recently.
Staffers may have noticed lethargy, but his wit was on full display today when Byrd issued a stinging written rebuke to Vice President Cheney for an off-color remark Cheney made about West Virginians and the fact he is distant cousins with Barack Obama.
"That a man who has ascended to the seat of Vice President of the United States would openly display such contempt and astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen is an insult to all Americans," Byrd wote. "Now that he or the Administration he represents no longer needs their vote, Mr. Cheney apparently feels that he is now free to mock and belittle the people of West Virginia. With his trademark arrogance, the Vice President even added ‘You can say those things when you’re not running for re-election.’
"This pitiful comment is not entirely surprising when you consider the source. Vice President Cheney’s words reflect the attitude of an administration and a party that says what they must to get elected and then turns their backs on those they promised to represent."
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