To A Lion

Just a quick break from HR 3200 for a Kennedy memorial. I will not make some long-winded statement, simply because people better suited to the task already have done so. Below, find a timeline of how his work has touched all of us.

1965: Strongly supported and helped pass the Hart-Celler Act, abolishing immigration and ending a ban on immigration from Asia.

1971: Helped establish the Federal Cancer Research Program, and quadrupled funds for cancer research.

1972: Negotiated the creation of Title IX, which requires colleges and universities to equally fund men's and women's athletics.

1974: Passed reform on campaign ethics and election finance, which resulted in the establishment of the FEC.

1983: Pushed Congress to establish Martin Luther King Day as a federal holiday.

1986: Led the override of Reagan's veto of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986.

1990: Sponsored the Family and Medical Leave Act, mandating unpaid leave for the birth of a child or medical emergencies.

1996: Let employees keep their health insurance for a set period of time after they leave their jobs and prohibited denial of renewal of care due to preexisting medical conditions through the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act, also called COBRA.

1996: Helped raise the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15.

And that's only a small part of the work he did.

Last, I'm going to include a film that's going around the internet. In 1968, Ted gave a speech on behalf of his brother Bobby in Sitka, Alaska at the Alaska Democratic Convention. It summarizes the philosophy of liberalism, and will perhaps be regarded as one of the best political speeches in American history.



Thanks, Teddy.