Senate Number Barrage Hails Byrd's Tenure

By KATE ZERNIKE

WASHINGTON, June 12 — In the Senate, Robert C. Byrd is famous for reciting poetry, reading from an encyclopedia and lecturing on the lessons of history. On Monday, as his colleagues honored him as the longest serving senator, they had a chance to show off their knowledge of his history.

They noted his number of days served (17,327), the number of senators he has outlasted (1,885), the percent of votes he won in his last race (78) and the number of terms he will have been elected to if he wins again this fall (9, another record).

They did so with dissertations and detail sure to make Mr. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, proud. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the minority leader, said that Mr. Byrd's career in public service added up to 25 percent of United States history and that the Senate first met in 1789 in New York City.

Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, calculated that 17,327 days equaled 47 years, 5 months, 1 week and 2 days.

Read more on Sen. Bryd's tenure online at the New York Times.