1. In the Senate, Ted Kennedy wrote hundreds of bills and supported thousands of others. Early in his career, he continued President Kennedy's desire for social change by helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of Nineteen Sixty-four. The law banned racial discrimination in the workplace.
2. Senator Kennedy worked for improved health care, education and immigration reform. He worked for civil rights, voting rights and workers' rights. He worked to end discrimination against people with physical and mental disabilities. Hisefforts resulted in the Americans with Disabilities Act in nineteen ninety.
3. Senator Kennedy also helped create health and nutrition programs for pregnant women, babies and children in low-income families. He led efforts to increase aid for higher education and increase wages for the lowest-paid workers.
4. He often worked with senators from the Republican Party to get laws passed. Republican Senator John McCain, the party's presidential candidate in two thousand eight, praised him for his ability to reach across party lines to pass important legislation.
5. JOHN MCCAIN: " When we agreed on an issue and worked together to make a little progress for the country on an important issue, he was the best ally you could have. You never even had a small doubt that once his word was given, and a course of action decided, he would honor the letter and the spirit of the agreement."
6. Senator Kennedy worked closely with President George W. Bush to pass an important education bill in two thousand one. But he was a critic of the Bush administration on many other issues, including the war in Iraq. He was one of only twenty-three senators who voted in two thousand two against supporting the invasion of Iraq.
7. While he was best known for his legislative battles for America's poor and disabled people, Senator Kennedy was also a leader in foreign policy. He was a strongvoice for ending America's war in Vietnam in the nineteen seventies.
8. In nineteen eighty-five, he led the congressional effort to order economic restrictions on South Africa because of its racial separation policy. His Refugee Act of Nineteen Eighty aided refugees around the world. He helped negotiate the peace agreement for Northern Ireland in nineteen ninety-eight.
9. Ted Kennedy was well liked in the Senate because of his hard work, friendliness and sense of humor. In two thousand six, Time magazine chose him as one of "America's Ten Best Senators." The magazine noted that he had supported a huge amount of important legislation that affected the lives of just about every man, woman and child in the country. He became known as "the liberal lion of the Senate."
10. In two thousand eight, Ted Kennedy was one of the first top Democrats to support a young senator seeking the party's nomination for president.
11. EDWARD KENNEDY: "My friends, I ask you to join in this historic journey to have the courage to choose change. It is time again for a new generation ofleadership. It is time now for Barack Obama."
12. That same year, doctors discovered a deadly brain tumor, which limited his ability to work. He spent time with his family, sailing on his beloved boat. However, he made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention to support Barack Obama's candidacy for president.
13. Senator Kennedy also asked for support for the cause of his life, "that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American … will have decent quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege."
14. Edward Kennedy died on August twenty-fifth, two thousand nine, at the age of seventy-seven. Three former American presidents were among the mourners whoattended his funeral at a Catholic church in Boston.
15. Ted Kennedy's children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews spoke at the funeral service. They included his son Patrick, a member of the House of Representatives from Rhode Island. The young people offered prayers for some of his beloved causes.
16. President Obama was the last speaker at the funeral. He said Ted Kennedy has gone home to join the loved ones he had lost.
17. BARACK OBAMA: "At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image. The image of a man on a boat, white mane tousled, smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for what storms may come,carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon."
18. Edward Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia near his brothers, John and Robert.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário