Senator Robert Byrd, the longest- serving senator in U.S. history, returned to the chamber today after a two-month bout with health ailments.
The 91-year-old West Virginia Democrat’s office said in a statement that he had been receiving physical therapy at home since being released June 30 from the hospital. He was admitted May 15 for an undisclosed infection, and his release was delayed by a staph infection he picked up at the hospital, his office said.
Byrd’s return increases the Democrats’ working majority in the Senate to 59 votes. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, is absent most days as he fights brain cancer.
Byrd, who joined the Senate in 1959 after serving in the House of Representatives, said in his statement it was “wonderful to be back in the august body where I have served for more than 50 years, and to see all my colleagues who have been so supportive of me.”
