Byrd died earlier this morning at the age of 92 at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. He was the longest-serving member of Congress in history and was a recognized authority on the institution’s history, its rules and procedures.
“Senator Byrd was a friend,” said Bill Raney. “He was a personal friend of mine and of the people of our state. He was a son of the coalfields and he held a special place in his heart for our coal miners. He worked hard for West Virginia and for our people. His love for our state was matched only by the high regard our people held for him.”
Byrd had served in the U.S. Senate since 1958. During that time he had been the majority leader twice, chaired the Appropriations Committee and written a four-volume history of the Senate.
Sen. Byrd’s wife of 68 years, Erma, died in 2006. The senator is survived by his two daughters, Mona and Marjorie, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Plans for Senator Byrd’s memorial services were not disclosed as of the time of this release.
Representatives of the West Virginia Coal Association and the Friends of Coal responded this week to the findings of the “report” by the Morgantown-based, anti-coal research organization, Downstream Strategies.
Despite being presented as a “complete report” of the economic impact of the coal industry on the state, the report left out several key calculations, including the $90 million in property taxes paid by the industry to the various counties and, unbelievably, the $3.2 billion in wages paid by the industry and its vendors and support companies.
Officials also drew attention to the background and obvious biases of the report’s authors, who include a member of Coal River Mountain Watch, and to the anti-coal groups funding the research, such as the Sierra Club and the SEIU.
Association officials referred reporters back to the study released earlier this year by a joint West Virginia University/Marshall University research team that we believe was much more thorough in its analysis of the vital economic impact of our industry on our state.
Association spokesmen were quoted in a variety of publications and broadcast news around the state and responded to stories posted on the internet and on social media forums such as Facebook.