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Senator Byrd

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June 28, 2007

Byrd Speech: Age No Barrier to Service

U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., decried would-be critics on Thursday, declaring that age is "no barrier to accomplishment."

The West Virginia lawmaker, who is the longest serving Senator in the history of the country, challenged Senators and citizens alike to get over stereotypes about growing older. He pointed to the accomplishments of senior citizens in a wide number of fields, and urged people to realize that age is only a number.

Mr. President, I feel compelled to address head on the news stories in recent weeks that have pointed out the shocking discovery that I am growing older. I find it no surprise, but then I have had some time to become accustomed to the increasing distance between the year of my birth and the current date. I may not like it, but as Maurice Chevalier put it, "Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative."

A recent Associated Press story ran in West Virginia's Charleston Daily Mail. The headline read, "Dramatic change in signature shows that age is catching up with Senator Byrd." The newspaper offered as proof the signatures on my Senate financial disclosure forms from last year and this year. It is true that this year's signature looks like I signed it in a moving car. Some days, the benign essential tremor that I have had for years now is worse than on other days – just as it is for the approximately 5 million other people in the United States who suffer from similar tremors. It is annoying, but hardly evidence that I am at death's door.

Nor should it come as a surprise that I use canes to help me get around, or that I am not always as fast as I once was. I am not aware of any requirement for physical dexterity in order to hold the office of U.S. Senator. The often grueling hours that work in the Senate requires are tough on far younger Senators, and I am no longer one of the younger Senators. But to worry in print that I have missed one vote this year? Really?! Out of more than 18,000 votes in my career, to miss one or two votes every now and then is surely excusable. Even old people can be allowed a sick day or two now and then, can't they?

That is really the crux of the matter here. In this internet-savvy, media-infused culture, we have forgotten that people get older. Even, dare I say it – old. Television is full of pretty, young people. The few white-haired heads that one sees on television are made up and glamorous. Off-camera, though, most bear little resemblance to their tv persona. In a culture of botox, wrinkle cream, and hair dye, we cannot imagine that becoming older is a good thing, an experience to look forward to and a state worthy of respect. If I were 50 years old, and used canes due to some injury, or had a disease-related tremor, the news stories would be about my carrying on despite my adversities. But my only adversity is age.

In real life, the lucky ones among us get old. We move down the steep slope to the far right of the bell curve of age. The really lucky ones – and I almost count myself among them – get to be "aged," into their nineties or older, a distinction that I like to think is naturally paired with the wisdom borne of experience. We get white hair. We get wrinkles. We move more slowly. We worry more about falling down because we don't bounce up the way we used to. Our brains are still sharp, but our tongues are slower. We have learned, sometimes the hard way, to think before we speak. I hope, however, that what we have to say is worth the wait.

Many good things are worth the wait. Grandma moses did not take up painting until the age of 75. She painted some 1,600 paintings, 250 of which she painted after her 100th birthday. Michelangelo was still working on frescos and sculptures when he died at the age of 89. Marian anderson gave her last public concert at the age of 68, and continued to inspire others until her death at the age of 96. Age is no barrier to accomplishment. When the spirit and the mind are willing, the creative juices continue to flow. I like to think that I still have a few things left on my "To do" list. I also like to think that someday our rapidly aging society will get over its fear and denial of aging. We had better get over it quickly, because demographics tell us that our senior population is rapidly growing.

Mr. President, if my colleagues still show deference to me, as the news articles reported, I hope it is due to my experience, my position as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and my ability as a Senator. If they are patient with me as I turn a page, I hope that is an example of the "Golden Rule" – they show patience with my minor adversities of age as they hope that someday others will show for them. After all, the Senate is not exactly full of spring chickens. It is not supposed to be. The Senate was designed to give age and experience a chance to flourish, and the rules give slower speakers a chance to be heard. Five percent of Senators date from the roaring 1920's -- and all of them served in World War II. The Senate will truly lose a great generation when they decide, if ever, to retire. Almost a quarter of Senators date from the 1930's, including many seasoned committee chairmen and ranking members.

I am sure that my younger colleagues on the appropriations committee appreciate the opportunity to play a larger role as appropriations bills move through the Senate, as the recent articles reported. As I have gotten older, I have learned to have great trust and respect in my colleagues, many of whom I have worked with for many years. Why is that decried as a bad thing? Why shouldn't these fine Senators, now in the fifties through their eighties, get to spread their wings while the old wise Byrd watches?

Abraham Lincoln once rightly observed that "…In the end, it's not the years of your life that count. It's the life in your years." My only adversity is age. It is not a bar to my usefulness as a Senator. I still look out for West Virginia. I still zealously guard the welfare of this nation and its Constitution. I still work, every day, to move the business of this nation forward, to end this reckless adventure in Iraq, and to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution against those who would reshape it to suit partisan agenda. And I will continue to do this work until this old body gives out. Just don't expect that to be anytime soon.

I believe that all ages and all occupations should be part of a truly representative body. I also believe that society works best when the energy and idealism of youth pairs with the experience and wisdom of age. America is the land of opportunity. I don't think our some 36 million citizens over the age of 65 are disqualified from participating in the life of the country we helped to build. Our country rejected those kinds of arbitrary barriers long ago -- and this Senator loudly and proudly rejects them now.

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