[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12449-S12450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE SENATE CAREER OF SENATOR TED KENNEDY

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I come to the floor to mark a very 
significant moment in the career of our good friend and colleague, the 
senior Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy, who is now in these 
days entering his 35th year of service in this body.
  The length of that tenure is really a measure, in my judgment, and I 
think in the judgment of the people of Massachusetts, of the 
extraordinary work that he does for our State as well as for the 
country. He is the most senior Senator from Massachusetts now in 
history, serving longer than Henry Cabot Lodge, longer than Charles 
Sumner, longer even than Daniel Webster, all of whom were extraordinary 
leaders in their own right.
  There is no question that the reason for this longevity is because of 
the remarkable persistence of his work for the State on a local basis. 
It was, after all, our own ``Tip'' O'Neill who said that ``all 
politics'' was ``local.'' Indeed, no one has fought harder for the 
people of Massachusetts when it comes to highway or bridge projects, or 
when it comes to mass transit, to research and development, to 
assistance for education, to helping our research hospitals, dealing 
with biotechnology, or defense conversion. The range of Senator 
Kennedy's accomplishments is really unmatched for our State. However, 
as everybody knows, he is also more than just the Senator from 
Massachusetts. He has been a Senator from Massachusetts who has had a 
national impact of great proportions and who has absorbed and 
articulated values and aspirations of our people and for the Nation.
  In the 35 years that he served our State, an awful lot has changed in 
this country. And it is fair to say that Ted Kennedy has been at the 
forefront of a great deal of that change. If you go back 30 years to 
the conditions that prevailed here in the country, there is no doubt 
that from the moment when he entered the Senate, he has been part of 
that change. When he came here there was no Civil Rights Act, there was 
no Voting Rights Act, and the great battle against segregation and for 
equal justice was only then just heating up. It was Ted Kennedy who 
fought those battles and who has remained a champion for bringing 
America closer to the ideals that we espouse. And we are at the center 
of those fights. When Ted Kennedy entered the Senate, there was no 
Medicare for senior citizens, there was no Medicaid for the poor and 
disabled, there were no incentives for private employers to provide 
health benefits, and large areas of the Nation were medically 
underserved. It was Ted Kennedy who fought those battles and who even 
today remains a leader in helping to bring health care to all 
Americans.
  When he entered the Senate, the Vietnam war was burgeoning, nuclear 
weapons were armed and aimed across the globe, South Africa brutally 
defended its apartheid system, and Eastern Europe remained in thrall to 
the Soviet Union.
  Ted Kennedy's great voice for reason and restraint on arms control, 
against apartheid, and for freedom resonated around the world. It is a 
memory that many people in many parts of the world carry with them 
today.
  Mr. President, we mark anniversaries not simply to recall the amount 
of time performed in service but to applaud and to take note of the 
amount of service performed in that time. There are few Senators in 
history, in my judgment, who match the productivity with longevity as 
well as Ted Kennedy.
  I think it can fairly be said that he is one of the very few in this 
body who has helped to set the agenda of this institution year after 
year, decade after decade. In just the last 2 years, he has achieved 
signal success on milestone legislation on behalf of working Americans.
  Largely due to his leadership, we raised the minimum wage. We now 
have a better health care system as he continues to fight for still 
more improvements as we have recognized some of the problems that have 
arisen even in the changes that have been made.
  His standing in this institution is based, in my judgment, on two 
simple attributes.
  First, he has understood from the beginning the distant goal lines 
this Nation needed to cross in order to make our dreams for the country 
a reality.
  Second, he has consistently moved the ball down the field with a 
sense of practicality about the limits of what the times and the 
opposition would allow.
  Many, many Americans outside this Chamber know Senator Kennedy for 
the power of his passion, the persuasiveness of his advocacy, and the 
tenaciousness of his fights.
  But there is, as we all know in this Chamber, a personal side to his 
presence here, which only those of us in the Chamber or those who have 
been touched in some way in their personal lives outside of this 
Chamber understand. There is probably not a Senator here who would not 
recount a story of how Ted Kennedy has picked up the phone at a time of 
stress or distress and has been responsive and caring. There are those 
of us who have gone through difficult times, who have found that he is 
one of the first people to offer help. I can personally remember once 
when I had a phone call at a time when I had pneumonia. The next thing 
I knew Ted Kennedy was making his house available for my recuperation 
and urging me to go and take advantage of it. That is the kind of 
person he is and just one small story of the many that other colleagues 
here have experienced.
  So, Mr. President, we are all better off for having this colleague of 
ours serve and continue to serve, and we are all better off for having 
him as a friend.
  I congratulate him on the occasion of his remarkable career. I 
earnestly hope that my State and this Nation will continue to rely on 
his capacity and his foresight and his presence in this body for many 
years to come.
  I thank my colleagues for their courtesy in allowing me to make these 
comments prior to another engagement.
  Mr. WARNER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I wish to commend the junior Senator from 
Massachusetts for the very eloquent statement from the heart about our 
colleague. While I philosophically differ from the senior Senator from 
Massachusetts, I will say he is one of the hardest working Senators 
that I have ever observed in every respect for those issues for which 
he fights. That fight comes from the heart. I just wanted to commend 
the junior Senator for speaking so eloquently about our mutual friend.
  Mr. KERRY. I thank my colleague.
  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I would like to also say that the junior 
Senator

[[Page S12450]]

from Massachusetts was quite right in saying that the senior Senator 
from Massachusetts during his long years here has certainly had a 
significant impact on legislation, and we all should recognize that and 
pay tribute to him for what he has done.
  Mr. President, I would also like to note that the Presiding Officer 
is a former marine. So he is celebrating today likewise the 222d 
birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps. So we are all celebrating together.

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