[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 128 (Friday, September 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9289-S9290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, it is equally a solemn subject 
on which I rise to remember our friend and colleague Ted Kennedy who 
died at the young age of 77. I say ``young age'' because it was another 
one of our colleagues, Senator John Glenn, who flew on a 10-day 
spaceflight at age 77. Today, 11 years later, he still looks as young 
as he looked back then. So 77 is way too young an age for cancer to 
take our friend Ted Kennedy.
  From the funeral and the remembrances, we know that he was the 
youngest of nine children. He had four brothers. He was born in 1932 
and elected to the Senate in 1962. He spent 46 years in the Senate, 
longer than all but two of our colleagues. He loved this institution, 
and he loved his fellow Senators. Of course, so many pieces of major 
legislation affecting the well-being of the American people if they 
don't have his name on it, certainly bear his fingerprints. Many of 
those pieces of legislation reflect the work of his pen.
  He fought tirelessly for the sick, the poor, the disabled, the 
children, the old. He was the driving force behind efforts to guarantee 
rights to the disabled, to provide family and medical leave, and to 
ensure a fair minimum wage. He also remembered individuals, both his 
colleagues, his staff, and his constituents. He was the first person to 
call during hard times. Why do you think that yesterday, our most 
esteemed colleague, Senator Byrd, in his bent-over, physically disabled 
condition now, was wheeled to this floor in his wheelchair, and his 
voice rose to the occasion in memorializing his friend. I remember 
Senator Byrd telling me how thoughtful Senator Kennedy was on a major 
birthday in his

[[Page S9290]]

80s, when Senator Kennedy had sent him the requisite number of roses.
  Of course, no matter what your political persuasion, you could see 
Ted Kennedy as an example of public service. He devoted his entire life 
to public service. He did so despite his easy financial condition. He 
did so despite numerous opportunities elsewhere. He did so despite 
seeing his three brothers sacrifice their lives in service to their 
country.
  I want to quote from our colleague Ted Kennedy, a quote from April 
2006. He said:

       The defining aspect of our country is opportunity--the hope 
     that you can do better, that your children can do better. But 
     you need an even playing field. To do that, you can't be sick 
     and in school. You've got to have health care. You've got to 
     have an economy working to give people a chance to get ahead. 
     It is not guaranteed. But you do have to have an opportunity. 
     Our country is big enough and strong enough and wealthy 
     enough to give that kind of opportunity to everybody. That's 
     what I work on every day.

  What an example for all of us. There is something else I wish to say 
about our colleague, because much has been made of his flaws. But who 
among us does not have flaws? Maybe Senator Kennedy realized so much 
his flaws that he decided despite those, he was going to do the best he 
could do for his fellow humankind. So he dedicated his life to the 
poor, the sick, the young and old, and the disabled. He fought against 
discrimination of all types. Indeed, he stood up for the least among 
us. Who cannot admire that, in being a champion for the least among us.
  Godspeed, Ted Kennedy.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I join my colleagues today in 
remembering the amazing life of Senator Edward Kennedy, a man beloved 
in the Senate and beloved in America.
  My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Vicki, his children, and 
his whole family.
  Like so many others, I consider myself lucky to have worked with him. 
He was more than a colleague, he was a mentor and a friend.
  I remember that he used to send me a message, ``The lantern is lit,'' 
when we would have late night votes. It was his way of beckoning me and 
a small group of Senators--Senator Schumer, Senator Cantwell and maybe 
one or two others--to his office in the Capitol where he would regale 
us with stories as only an Irishman would.
  Ted Kennedy's wit and stories, his passion for a cause and his 
country and his love for the Senate made me want to go to work every 
day. He never gave up and he had a fiery zest for the legislative 
battles that was always tempered by a bipartisan pragmatism.
  I remember last year when we were working on the Medicare 
improvements bill, which was absolutely critical to Medicare recipients 
across the country.
  Seniors were counting on us to pass this bill, but we were just one 
vote short of the 60 we needed. But Harry Reid knew how to find that 
last vote. The afternoon of the vote, the doors of the Senate swung 
open and in walked Senator Kennedy.
  I will always remember watching him walk onto the Senate floor with 
then-Senator Obama and his son Patrick on either side of him. Every 
single Senator had made their way to the floor, and the gallery was 
full. Applause erupted as he walked out, even though it is against the 
Senate rules. Each of us gave him a tearful hug and kiss as he made his 
way to cast his vote.
  His very presence seemed to open the floodgates. Suddenly, a bill 
that was about to fail by one vote passed by nine as Republicans who 
had spent weeks blocking the bill suddenly switched their votes after 
Senator Kennedy.
  His presence was so persuasive that day because his colleagues knew 
these were issues he believed in deeply, and had spent his life 
fighting for. He never gave up on the good fight.
  Ted Kennedy, with his booming voice, gave a voice to the voiceless 
and stood up for those who had no one standing with them. As he said, 
``We are all part of the American family and we have a responsibility 
to help members of that family when they are in need.''
  Ted Kennedy did more than just speak these words, he lived them. Day 
in and day out on the Senate floor, he fought for justice and equality 
and opportunity for all Americans.
  I will give you just one example, after we tragically lost our friend 
and colleague Paul Wellstone, Senator Kennedy picked up his torch and 
helped get the Mental Health Parity Act through the Senate.
  His many achievements will be etched in the history books and his 
legacy will live on in the hundreds of laws that bear his name.
  But Ted Kennedy will be remembered for more than just his 
legislation, he will remembered for his heart and his humor and his 
zest for life.
  On a snowy winter day in Washington, DC, one year, one of my friends 
took his family to go to sledding and who should he see? Senator 
Kennedy and Senator Dodd across the way, sledding down by the National 
Cathedral.
  This is the Ted Kennedy I will remember, a man who made the most of 
life, a man who loved his friends and his family and a man who worked 
each and every day to make this country stronger.
  While he will no longer walk onto the Senate floor, he will remain 
with us through the lessons he taught us and the memories he blessed us 
with.
  Today, let us honor his life by picking up his torch and continuing 
to fight the good fights, while also respecting those on the other side 
of us.
  Let us fulfill his dream of ``an America where we can all contend 
freely and vigorously, but where we will treasure and guard those 
standards of civility which alone make this nation safe for both 
democracy and diversity.''
  Ted Kennedy loved this country and was willing to work with anyone 
and find common ground in order to open the doors of opportunity for 
all Americans.
  He carried the weight of history on his shoulders, but rose up to 
become the lion of the Senate and one of the greatest legislators in 
the our country's history.
  Although he is no longer with us, he will continue to inspire us.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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