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Updated Friday, August 28, 2009 10:11 am TWN, By Arthur I. Cyr, Special to The China Post

Death and life of Senator Edward Kennedy

Senator Edward M. Kennedy has died at the age of seventy-seven of incurable brain cancer first diagnosed in May 2008, leaving in his wake an exceptional record of public service. First elected to the Senate in 1962 at the age of thirty, he is the third longest-serving member, surpassed only by Robert Byrd (D.-W.Va.) and the late Strom Thurmond (R.-S.Car.).

Comments from Senators of both parties underscore both personal affection and professional respect. Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) said the Senate as well as the Kennedy family has “lost our patriarch.” Sen. John McCain (R.-Az.) described Ted Kennedy as a “legendary lawmaker.” Kennedy's close friend Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R.-Utah) in a statement described him as “an iconic, larger than life United States Senator whose influence cannot be overestimated.”

Hatch cited nearly a dozen bipartisan Senate bills they worked on jointly, including federal funding for those suffering from HIV/AIDS, and tax breaks to encourage the development of medicine for rare diseases.

Ted Kennedy from the beginning of his Senate tenure demonstrated strong interest in the legislative process. The very long list of major bills in which he played a leadership role includes the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and 1965 voting rights and immigration reform bills. In more recent years, Kennedy was instrumental in securing passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, and the Kennedy-Hatch Law of 1997 which provides health insurance to children using a new tax on tobacco. In the words of long-time Brookings Institution analyst Stephen Hess, Kennedy “owned the Senate.”

Kennedy collaborated closely with President George W. Bush for passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Bush renamed the Justice Department Building for the Senator's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

Earlier, President Ronald Reagan worked effectively with both Kennedy and Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, inspiring quips about the bipartisan special relationship among Irish-American politicians. More recently, former first lady Nancy Reagan has collaborated closely with Kennedy in efforts to increase support for stem-cell research.

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