The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy - Bill Adler [28]
—Senate speech, December 9, 1978
As the crisis continues, it becomes more and more difficult for anyone to pretend that AIDS is someone else’s problem. There are few of us who do not know someone who is either infected or affected by AIDS. In a very real way, we are all living with AIDS.
—Statement, May 14, 1996
One of our greatest fears as human beings is that one day we’ll learn that we—or a loved one—have cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, Parkinson’s, or any of a number of dread and deadly diseases. But every day, thousands of Americans are stunned by that bad news. The phone rings. The doctor is on the line. And lives are changed forever by the awful news.
Stem cell research holds the greatest promise of hope for the millions of Americans who face these diseases. Research on these tiny cells may mean that the next time a doctor gives the bad news of horrible disease, the doctor can also say that these diseases are now curable.
—Statement at hearing on stem cell research,
September 5, 2001
Access to mental health services is one of the most important civil rights issues facing the nation. For too long, persons living with mental disorders have suffered discriminatory treatment at all levels of society. They have been forced to pay more for the services they need and to worry about their job security if their employer finds out about their condition. Sadly, in America today, patients with biochemical problems in their liver are treated with more compassion than those with biochemical problems in their brain. That kind of discriminatory treatment must end. No one questions the need for affordable treatment of physical illnesses. But those who suffer from mental illnesses face serious barriers in obtaining the services they need at prices they can afford. Like those suffering from physical illnesses, persons with mental disorders deserve quality care. Failure to obtain treatment can mean years of shattered dreams and unfulfilled potential. Americans with mental illness deserve health and happiness too—just as do those with physical illness.
—Remarks on the Mental Health Equitable Treatment
Act, November 29, 2001
When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you [President Obama] will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me—and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.
—Letter to President Obama, May 12, 2009
IN LIGHTER MOMENTS
TED KENNEDY LOVED TO LAUGH. SO MANY OF THE speakers who paid him tribute at his memorial service recalled times spent with him, laughing. That hearty, booming, generous laugh that his friends so loved to hear. He loved a good joke or funny story, and of course, like any good Irish politician, he could spin a fine yarn. His humor was never mean-spirited; he was often self-deprecating, always quick to laugh at his own foibles and quirks.
Of course, he found it easy enough to poke fun at the Republicans, too: They gave him plenty of good shots. Many of us remember how he used the opportunity at his speech at the Democratic National Convention of 1988. Then-Vice President George Bush was the Republican nominee. Reagan was finishing up his second term, leaving office as the public was still wondering who did what in the Iran-Contra arms-trading deal. Bush claimed not to have known what was going on. “Where was George?” Kennedy asked the thousands of assembled delegates. He came up with more examples of the Vice President’s absence while scandals were breaking out in the Reagan administration, one after the other. “Where was George?” Kennedy asked