FILE PHOTO OF FORMER SENATOR DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN, 1999-02-19 (photo)

Former U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a powerhouse in Washington for decades, was in critical condition at a hospital March 17, 2003 with an infection following a burst appendix, an aide said. The Democrat from New York marked his 76th birthday on Sunday at the Washington Hospital Center, six days after undergoing surgery for the burst appendix, the aide said. She said the infection set in on Friday. Moynihan walks from the White House following a meeting with then first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, February 19, 1999. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque-Files HB/