The Waterways Journal
26 February 2007
Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) will receive the sixth annual Waterways Council Inc. Leadership Service Award on February 28 at the Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C. Byrd will be honored for his steadfast commitment to the improvement of the nation's ports and commercial inland waterways system over his many years in Congress.
Past recipients of the award include Rep. David Hobson (2006); Rep. Jerry Costello and Rep. John Duncan, Jr. (2005); Sen. Kit Bond (2004); Sen. John Breaux (2003), and Rep. Sonny Callahan (2002).
Byrd is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, appointed to the committee by then-Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson in 1959, the year Byrd began his Senate service. Byrd also serves on the Armed Services Committee, the Rules and Administration Committee, and the Budget Committee.
"Waterways Council Inc.'s Leadership Service Award recognizes great commitment to our nation's waterways and port system, and we are so honored to recognize publicly the outstanding leadership of Sen. Byrd," said Barry Palmer, president and chief executive officer of Waterways Council Inc.
"His legacy will be his more than 50 years of service to Congress, to the state of West Virginia, and to the entire nation for his enduring allegiance to our critically important waterways system," Palmer continued. "His leadership role in the enactment of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 has led to improvements at 17 lock and dam sites along the Ohio River Navigation System. The naming of the Robert C. Byrd Lock and Dam, which replaced the old Gallipolis Locks, recognizes his great national leadership with respect to waterways infrastructure improvements."
The dinner will be held in conjunction with WCI's 2007 Spring Seminar, February 26 and 27. For more information on the seminar and the dinner, visit www.waterwayscouncil.org.