Honoring The Life And Works Of Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Floor Speech

Thank you and I thank my colleague for arranging this Special Order to honor an incredible leader and an incredible friend, Ted Kennedy.

You know, in the McGovern household in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Kennedy name has always been magic. Our family admired and respected President Kennedy. We all supported him, were committed to Robert Kennedy and the causes that he stood for, and we always felt it a very special privilege to be represented in Massachusetts by Ted Kennedy. You know, all of us, especially the Massachusetts delegation, already miss Senator Kennedy. We miss his humor, we miss his friendship, his advice, his leadership.

I tell my colleagues from outside of Massachusetts that I'm proud to call myself a Ted Kennedy Democrat, and a Ted Kennedy Democrat is somebody who's a believer in dynamic and efficient, bold and effective government, somebody who believes it is important to stand up for human rights and for civil rights, and Senator Kennedy did so with incredible integrity and with incredible character.

You know, I believe as has been said here that he is the greatest legislator in the history of the United States Senate.

On health care, I mean every major piece of health care legislation that has been enacted into law has Ted Kennedy's fingerprints all over it. There are millions of children in America today who have health care because of Ted Kennedy.

And education: Every major education bill to expand educational opportunities for people of every background is a result of Ted Kennedy's leadership.

In the area of workers rights, a strong champion of organized labor, somebody who promoted and enacted major legislation that protected workers and workers rights.

In the area of civil rights, you're going to hear from our colleague from Georgia, John Lewis, a hero in the civil rights movement who will talk to you about the fact that Ted Kennedy was the leader in the area of civil rights in the United States Senate.

And on the Iraq War, I have a special admiration and respect for his courage, for the stand he took against that war, when it was not popular to do so, but he took that stand because he believed it was the right thing to do. He thought that war should always be a last resort, not a first resort, and I think he was right on that war.

But to all of us in Massachusetts, he was our Senator who assembled the best staff you could possibly imagine. When somebody lost their Social Security check, they called Ted Kennedy in his office. When a veteran needed help, they called Ted Kennedy. When a local official needed funding for a local college or hospital or road project, they called Ted Kennedy's office. All phone calls were returned, whether it was from the Queen of England or Mrs. O'Leary who lived in a three-decker in Worcester.

But more than that, I appreciate very much his personal touch. I was grateful for that personal touch, you know, the notes and the calls. When somebody was sick in your family, you got a phone call. When you got a special recognition or if you won an election, you got a note. If something great happened to you, you know, he was the first to call.

When my son, Patrick, was born, the very first call we received was from Ted Kennedy, even before my mother and father called the hospital. The very first gift that we received was from Ted Kennedy, a blanket that had my son's name stitched into the blanket with the words, Love, Vicki and Ted. And the same thing happened when my daughter was born a couple of years later. Those are things that I will never forget and always treasure.

You know, when he died, I said that nobody can ever fill his shoes, but we must try to follow in his footsteps, and I really believe that.

You know, one of the things that Senator Kennedy said was that the great unfinished goal of his life was health care. He believed that everyone in this country deserves health care. He thought it was a national scandal that tens of millions of Americans are without health care. He believed that we could provide better health care to people, that we could put a greater emphasis on preventative care to prevent people from getting sick. He believed we could come up with a health care system that would control costs so that families and small businesses wouldn't go broke trying to provide health care for their families or for their workers.

And so while he is no longer with us, we need to continue his work. He was the conscience of our country, and I believe that we need to continue to be inspired by his example. We need to continue to stand up for what's right. We need to continue to fight for what's right.

And I will say as my colleagues have said, I feel it has been a special privilege and an honor for me to be part of this delegation that for so many years was led by Senator Kennedy, a great leader and a great friend. And the world is going to miss him. And I already do.

I thank my colleague for yielding to me.

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