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Sen. Robert Byrd, Defender and Prolific Sponsor of Academic Earmarks, Dies at 92

Robert C. Byrd, a U.S. senator from West Virginia and self-taught scholar of the U.S. Constitution who was a champion of earmarks for colleges and other recipients, died early Monday of an unspecified illness. He was 92.

Mr. Byrd, a Democrat and the longest-serving member of the Senate, was valedictorian of his high-school class but lacked the money to go to college. (See lengthy obituary in The Washington Post.) He earned a law degree while in Congress by attending night classes at American University, and he later created the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program to help high-achieving students afford a college education....
Read entire article at CHE