2007.05.16: May 16, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: Fathers: Hartford Courant: Senate Remembers Tom Dodd, "He was a man that brought justice," says Senator Robert Byrd
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2007.05.16: May 16, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: Fathers: Hartford Courant: Senate Remembers Tom Dodd, "He was a man that brought justice," says Senator Robert Byrd
Senate Remembers Tom Dodd, "He was a man that brought justice," says Senator Robert Byrd
After hearing Tom Dodd's son, who now sits at his late father's Senate desk, offer a warm, loving tribute on the Senate floor Tuesday, Byrd struggled to get up from his seat. On what would have been Tom Dodd's 100th birthday, Byrd clipped a small microphone to his left jacket pocket and the old energy seemed to be back. "I knew Tom Dodd. I served with Tom Dodd. He had the features, the Roman features, the features of a Roman senator." Byrd looked at Chris Dodd, whose second-row Senate seat is adjacent. Suddenly, Byrd bowed his head. His voice choked. "God bless him," he said as his voice slowly cracked. Byrd was fighting tears. He tried to go on. "He was a man that brought justice," he said, and stopped again. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. "But I've often wondered in the end if we," he said, and stopped again. He seemed unsteady now, and his face was moist with tears. The words came out slowly and almost painfully. "If we did him justice." Dodd put his outstretched arm on Byrd's left shoulder, comforting his one-time mentor. Byrd and a lot of other veteran senators have long embraced Chris Dodd. They may have condoned the censure but have made it clear over the years that Tom Dodd was an honorable man, and his son's service is a fitting legacy. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.
Senate Remembers Tom Dodd, "He was a man that brought justice," says Senator Robert Byrd
Senate Remembers Tom Dodd
Emotional Byrd Regrets Possibility Of Injustice Done To Late Senator
May 16, 2007
By DAVID LIGHTMAN, Washington Bureau Chief
Caption: Caption: Former Connecticut Senator Thomas Dodd, shares a Grimm's Fairy Tale with his son, now-Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut.
WASHINGTON -- Robert Byrd got right to the point, and he punctuated it with a display of spontaneous feeling rare in a chamber where tradition and decorum are virtual religions.
The oldest bull of the Senate had served with Connecticut's Tom Dodd. They entered the Senate together in 1959, and Byrd was one of the 92 senators who voted eight years later to censure his colleague for converting campaign funds to personal use.
Byrd is frail now. He can barely stand, and the booming voice that Senate-watchers know so well is slowly losing its vigor.
But after hearing Tom Dodd's son, who now sits at his late father's Senate desk, offer a warm, loving tribute on the Senate floor Tuesday, Byrd struggled to get up from his seat.
On what would have been Tom Dodd's 100th birthday, Byrd clipped a small microphone to his left jacket pocket and the old energy seemed to be back.
"I knew Tom Dodd. I served with Tom Dodd. He had the features, the Roman features, the features of a Roman senator."
Byrd looked at Chris Dodd, whose second-row Senate seat is adjacent. Suddenly, Byrd bowed his head. His voice choked.
"God bless him," he said as his voice slowly cracked.
Byrd was fighting tears. He tried to go on.
"He was a man that brought justice," he said, and stopped again. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his face.
"But I've often wondered in the end if we," he said, and stopped again. He seemed unsteady now, and his face was moist with tears. The words came out slowly and almost painfully. "If we did him justice."
Dodd put his outstretched arm on Byrd's left shoulder, comforting his one-time mentor. Byrd and a lot of other veteran senators have long embraced Chris Dodd. They may have condoned the censure but have made it clear over the years that Tom Dodd was an honorable man, and his son's service is a fitting legacy.
Chris Dodd on Tuesday spent seven minutes on the Senate floor remembering his father's life, a public life that had begun during the New Deal. He was a youth administrator and FBI agent, a Nuremberg prosecutor in 1945 and 1946, and finally a U.S. senator.
Byrd's emotion seemed just as memorable as the words of the son.
"I didn't know Sen. Thomas Dodd, but I know Sen. Christopher Dodd," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "I'm sure that Sen. Thomas Dodd is smiling today."
Contact David Lightman at dlightman@courant.com.
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Story Source: Hartford Courant
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Dominican Republic; Politics; Congress; Election2008 - Dodd; Fathers
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