[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 28699-28700]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CONGRATULATING THE BOSTON RED SOX

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is good to be back in the Senate after 
a brief absence due to some health issues. I am enormously appreciative 
to the people of Massachusetts, for all

[[Page 28700]]

of their thoughts and good wishes and prayers that were extended to me. 
I am very thankful to so many of our colleagues, on this side of the 
aisle and on the other side as well, who wished me well. As a matter of 
fact, there were a number of those on the other side of the aisle who 
urged me to take even additional time, that the Senate could function 
very well without my attendance. I appreciate their good thoughts, but 
we are back in business and ready to deal with the important issues at 
hand.
  One of the very important issues at hand is reminding the country of 
the extraordinary achievement and accomplishment by a magnificent 
sports team from my home city of Boston, MA. The country knows about 
it, but I know Senator Kerry joins with me in taking a moment to say 
how much we are cheering them on, on this magnificent, beautiful day in 
Boston. Our greatest regret is missing what they call the ``rolling 
rally'' that will celebrate the World Series victory of our beloved Red 
Sox. It is going to be an absolutely spectacular day in Boston.
  Both of us, Senator Kerry and I, are very grateful to the Senate for 
last night passing this wonderful resolution that expressed all of our 
feelings about the Boston Red Sox and their success this year. It is an 
extraordinary record. For the millions of members of the Red Sox 
nation, this year has been a dream come true. We are proud of the team 
and what they have accomplished, especially the way they came back 
after trailing the Cleveland Indians by some three games to one in the 
American League Championship Series and went on to win seven straight 
games.
  It was an exciting season full of brilliant performances, but none of 
them were as touching as the extraordinary--and it was extraordinary--
performance by Jon Lester, the great pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, 
who pitched 5\2/3\ shutout innings in game four on Sunday night, less 
than 1 year after being treated with lymphoma. For thousands of 
families struggling with cancer, his example is truly an inspiration.
  I congratulate the Colorado Rockies as well. They showed us what can 
be achieved when everyone pulls together, winning an incredible 21 out 
of 22 games to reach the World Series and making history in the 
process. I have no doubt their team will have a brilliant future.
  So, congratulations, Red Sox, for a job brilliantly done in 2007. It 
is a wonderful year for baseball in Boston. We are enormously grateful 
to the whole team for an inspiring and exciting season and we look 
forward to another great year in 2008.

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