 These are the committee assignments for Sen. Byrd's 9th and final term.Byrd was a member of the wing of the Democratic Party that opposed federally-mandated desegregation and civil rights.However, despite his early career in the KKK, Byrd was linked to such senators as John C. Stennis, J. William Fulbright and George Smathers, who based their segregationist positions on their view of states' rights in contrast to senators like James Eastland, who held a reputation as a committed racist.