[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24475-24477]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, in this chamber we have witnessed 
incredibly moving eulogies and remembrances of our departed colleague 
Senator Edward Kennedy. Obituaries in national and international 
newspapers convey the historic milestones of his life that none could 
forget, as well as more personal stories of the man that fewer knew.
  So much has been said and written since Senator Kennedy's death 
August 25, 2009. Many of these stories paint the picture of his family, 
his life, his accomplishments, his legacy all of it extraordinary. Many 
of us are students of history. Indeed Senator Kennedy lived history.

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  I am reminded of the recollections of one of my predecessors as U.S. 
Senator for Wyoming, and a dear friend of Senator Kennedy, Senator Al 
Simpson. In an interview from 1997 given to the Institute of 
International Studies at the University of California as part of their 
``Conversation of History'' project, Senator Simpson was asked: Who was 
the finest legislator he had ever worked with? Senator Simpson replied:

       The finest legislator I ever worked with was Ted Kennedy. 
     He had a magnificent staff, he even had a parliamentarian on 
     that staff of his. So when you were in the legislative arena 
     and you were bringing your lunch and staying late, you wanted 
     to get Ted on your side or at least use some of his 
     expertise. I would go to him sometimes early on and say look, 
     you'll have to trust me, what the hell do I do right now to 
     move this bill? Boy I'll tell you he had ways to do it and as 
     you can see he uses those skills on issues in which I was 
     totally on the other side. I can't remember them all there 
     were so many. We were never on the same side. But he is a 
     legislator.

  And so he was. He was a quintessential legislator. There is no 
question about that.
  Most of those who have so eloquently written and spoken since his 
death knew the Senator much better than I Presidents, Senators, world 
leaders, and other dignitaries, members of his family and friends back 
in New England. They recall the Senator all of us in the Senate knew, 
even if only briefly a kind, caring, passionate, and deliberate figure.
  Others have detailed his accomplishments they are legendary and 
lasting. What can I add to these recollections?
  I was neither a close friend, confidante, nor legislative partner to 
Senator Kennedy. I was a new Senator from Wyoming when I first met him. 
But the story I have, I would like to share, as it is meaningful and 
illustrates his larger than life personality in the U.S. Senate.
  On June 25, 2007, I was sworn in to the U.S. Senate. Senator Kennedy 
was one of a handful of Democrats in the Chamber. As you would expect, 
I had a lot of family members in the gallery. Later, they joined me 
along with Malcolm Wallop, former U.S. Senator for Wyoming, and Senator 
Mike Enzi in a reception off this floor.
  As I was walking up the center aisle to leave the Chamber, there was 
a booming voice that reverberated through the Chamber. ``Senator, 
Senator!'' I was new. I had been a U.S. Senator at that point for all 
of 60 seconds, so I ignored the calls. At that moment a hand grabbed my 
shoulder, I turned and heard this booming voice again ``Hi, I'm Ted 
Kennedy.'' Senator Kennedy through his voice and his presence knew how 
to get your attention.
  All of those who came to see me sworn in--family, friends from 
Wyoming--they heard it too and we all broke out laughing. ``Senator 
Kennedy, we know who you are.''
  Senator Kennedy began to tell me stories of his life and about his 
visits to Wyoming. He spoke about a trip to Rock Springs, WY, when his 
brother John was running for President. He spoke of Wyoming casting the 
votes to secure the nomination for John.
  He told me about the people he had met--members of the Wyoming 
Democrat Party at the time--relationships he had built nearly 50 years 
ago. He named one after another as if he was reading from text. It was 
a stunning moment to watch Senator Kennedy recall places, events, and 
people in my home State from 1960.
  At my welcoming reception he took personal time with my son Peter and 
my daughter Emma, both in college. He said to them, ``So you're the 
brother and you're the sister--you know I had some brothers.'' He 
talked about John and Robert and Joe. A living history lesson. He 
invited them up to his office to show them pictures and other 
memorabilia.
  In his office in the Russell Building he must have spent half an hour 
with Peter and Emma going over pictures of his father Joe, mother Rose, 
and the Kennedy kids. He shared letters, notes from history.
  I think he enjoyed it nearly as much as we did. He beamed when he 
spoke about his family.
  Senator Kennedy leaves behind an astonishing legislative record of 
accomplishment. He achieved his goals to a degree that perhaps no other 
Senator in history has. As a public servant, he has few equals.
  But he was so much more. Ted also leaves us with the memory of the 
man--the memory of his kindness and grace, his humility.
  Books will detail Ted Kennedy's legislative victories. His moments in 
history. I will remember the moments he took to warmly and unexpectedly 
welcome this new Senator and touch the lives of my family that day as 
well.
  To Vicki, we extend our family's sympathy and hope the coming days 
are filled with more love, God's grace and strength to go on. Bobbi and 
I wish the Kennedy family our best and our prayers are with you.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I was deeply saddened by the passing of 
Senator Edward M. Kennedy in August, my colleague on the Health, 
Education, and Labor Committee, a statesman in every sense of the word, 
and a Senator not just for the people of Massachusetts but for every 
corner of the Nation. I am grateful for the time I shared with him as a 
colleague and as a friend.
  Senator Kennedy may be best known in this body for his consistent 
leadership on the big national issues. Whether you agreed with him or 
not Senator Kennedy was ``all in'' on the issues he cared about, like 
health care and education, and a formidable force to be reckoned with.
  While Senator Kennedy was firm in his convictions, he was open to the 
ideas of other Senators, regardless of party affiliation. As most 
Senators who worked with him know, Senator Kennedy had an unequaled 
reputation for compromise and negotiation. As legislation was being 
written and developed, he recognized the importance of other Senators' 
perspectives on an issue, including mine, and was therefore willing to 
alter legislative proposals for the sake of cooperation and finding 
middle ground with Senators from any political party. The two years I 
spent on the HELP Committee with him as my chairman were truly a 
blessing.
  There was so much to admire about Senator Kennedy's career. But the 
thing I really admired about Senator Kennedy was his ability to look 
beyond the beltway to take up causes that might seem obscure to many in 
this body--causes that offended Senator Kennedy's sense of justice. Let 
me offer a few examples from my State of Alaska.
  Federal law requires agencies to reinstate civil servants who go on 
active duty in the National Guard and Reserves when their service is 
complete. The law goes by the acronym USERRA. When Bob Traut of Palmer, 
AK, completed his active duty service with the Alaska National Guard, 
he was not reinstated to his position in the Indian Health Service. His 
position had been eliminated and he was not offered another. He filed a 
USERRA complaint with the Department of Labor, which was passed around 
among investigators and ultimately lost. Several years after he started 
this process he was offered a Federal position at a U.S. Coast Guard 
base hundreds of miles from his home. He couldn't drive to his new 
workplace--he had to fly there because Kodiak is an island not 
connected by road to the rest of Alaska. Even then his back pay claims 
were lost in a morass of bureaucracy, in spite of repeated inquiries 
from my office. Bob Traut's fortunes changed when Senator Kennedy 
decided to hold an oversight hearing about USERRA focused on Bob 
Traut's case.
  The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the 1971 law which resolved 
the aboriginal land claims of Alaska's first peoples, is truly one of 
the landmark pieces of federal Indian legislation. The administration 
offered Alaska's Native people 10 million acres of land. Senator 
Kennedy came to the floor on several occasions to argue that the number 
of acres should be no less than 40 million. The ultimate settlement was 
44 million acres. A settlement which might not have been possible 
without Senator Kennedy's leadership.

[[Page 24477]]

  As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Indian Education, Kennedy 
joined a few other Senate colleagues on a trip to several Alaska Native 
villages in April 1969. Kennedy recalls being stunned by the poverty 
and despair in the villages, many of which still lack basic sanitation 
and are plagued by high rates of sexual assault, domestic violence, and 
suicide. It affected Senator Kennedy so deeply that he found it 
difficult to ``numb the pain.''
  The course of Senator Kennedy's life brought him many blessings and 
accomplishments. He was a father of three beautiful children and two 
stepchildren, a Harvard graduate, a nine-term Senator with the third 
longest time serving in the U.S. Senate in American history, a veteran 
of the Army, a talented football player who almost went pro but opted 
instead for a life of public service . . . the list goes on.
  My condolences and blessings go out to his family, especially his 
wife and children. Despite Ted's passing, his spirit lives on. There is 
little doubt in my mind that this spirit will inspire generations of 
our colleagues in the years ahead to take up his causes and ensure that 
the vulnerable in America, the often forgotten Americans who live in 
remote places like rural Alaska, are never forgotten.
  Ted, thank you for your service.

                          ____________________