Sen. Byrd released from hospital

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) was discharged Thursday from the hospital where he was taken Monday night and treated for a mild infection.

{mosads}A statement from Byrd's office said the 90-year-old senator "will complete the course of his antibiotic treatment as prescribed by his doctors at his home and is expected to return to his official Senate duties upon his doctors’ approval.”

The statement said Byrd was happy to hear of Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) successful brain surgery and inquired about Vice President Cheney’s apology for making a public joke over the weekend about West Virginia.

Byrd, who is the longest-serving senator in U.S. history and is third in line to the presidency, has been hospitalized three times since February. His office had declined to name the hospital where he had been treated this week, a policy it adopted after Byrd’s March hospital stay at the request of his family.