[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16941]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 ANOTHER TRAGEDY IN THE KENNEDY FAMILY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to say a word about the tragedy 
which has befallen the Kennedy family and the Bessette family, as we 
learn about the terrible circumstances involving the plane crash last 
Friday. When my wife came in in Springfield, IL, Saturday morning and 
said that she had just heard on the radio that John Kennedy's plane was 
missing, our reaction was the same: Could this be another tragedy for 
this family?
  The Kennedy family means so much to America, so much to the 
Democratic Party, and so much to many of us personally. As a young 
student just starting at Georgetown University in 1963, I arrived weeks 
before the assassination of President John Kennedy. I stood on 
Pennsylvania Avenue and watched the funeral cortege leave the White 
House for this Capitol Building, where President John Kennedy's body 
was held in reverence for visitation by the American people.
  Then I can recall, as a college student, sitting in this gallery and 
looking down on this floor to watch as Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator 
Robert Kennedy talked about the war in Vietnam, and in the gallery 
across the way was Ethel Kennedy and other members of the Kennedy 
family. Little did I dream that the day would come when I would serve 
with Senator Ted Kennedy and come to know him personally. Each of us 
who serves with him understands what an extraordinary person he is. He, 
in my mind, is the best legislator on the floor of the Senate. He is so 
well versed, so well prepared, and so hard-working, that he is an 
inspiration to all of us.
  We are reminded from time to time, as we were this weekend, that his 
obligations go beyond the Senate and certainly to a large family who 
looks to him for guidance and leadership in times of trial. This week, 
Ted Kennedy is bringing together the Kennedy family in mourning over 
the death of John Kennedy, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her 
sister Lauren. Our hearts go out to him and the entire family and to 
the Bessette family as well.
  Those of us who remember that 1963 assassination graphically can 
recall exactly where we were at the moment that we heard President John 
Kennedy was shot. As we watched all the scenes unfold afterwards, one 
of the most poignant was that of little John Kennedy saluting his 
father as the casket passed in front of the church. I guess we had 
always hoped that because Caroline and John Kennedy had endured this 
tragedy so early in life that God would find a special place for them 
and they would lead normal, happy, and secure lives. They certainly set 
out to do it and did it well, both of them. Then again, a tragedy such 
as this will occur and remind us again of our vulnerability and 
fragility as human beings.
  Our hearts and prayers go out to both families, and certainly to 
Senator Kennedy in his leadership role in the Kennedy family. We will 
be remembering them as this week passes and as we address our concern 
and sympathy on the floor of the Senate.
  Mr. SARBANES. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. DURBIN. I am happy to yield to my colleague.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I commend my very able colleague from 
Illinois for his very eloquent remarks about this tragedy, and I 
associate myself with his remarks. Our hearts do go out to both 
families, the Kennedy family and the Bessette family. The Bessette 
family has lost two children.
  My State has been fortunate to be blessed by the extraordinary 
leadership of the next generation of the Kennedy family in terms of 
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who now serves as our lieutenant governor. 
So I have a direct sense of the strong responsibility of dedicated 
public service which has marked this family from the very beginning.
  All of us are deeply struck by this tragedy. Our hearts reach out to 
the families. We extend them our very heartfelt sympathies. We feel 
very deeply about our colleague, Senator Kennedy, who, of course, has 
assumed the family leadership responsibilities. We have to press on, 
but it really comes as a very saddening tragedy for all of us.
  I thank my colleague for yielding.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I inquire of the time remaining under 
morning business.


  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 20 minutes under his control.

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