Byrd to return to Senate

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., will return to Capitol Hill next week after being hospitalized because of a back injury, his spokesman said.

The 90-year-old Byrd has been hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Medical Center since Tuesday after falling at his Virginia home Monday night, The Hill reported.

X-rays taken Wednesday showed Byrd suffered no broken bones from his fall, spokesman Jesse Jacobs said.

Byrd will undergo physical therapy "to ensure he is steady on his feet when he returns to his Senate duties next week," Jacobs was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Byrd, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is the longest-serving senator in American history and, as Senate president pro tempore, is third in line of succession to the presidency.