Ted Kennedy, R.I.P.

Statement by John McCain:

My friend, Ted Kennedy, was famous before he was accomplished. But by the end of his life he had become irreplaceable in the institution he loved and in the affections of its members. He grew up in the long shadow of his brothers, but found a way to be useful to his country in ways that will outlast their accomplishments.

Many of his fellow senators, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, will note today that Ted was sincerely intent on finding enough common ground among us to make progress on the issues of our day, and toward that end he would work as hard and as modestly as any staffer. Many will recall his convivial nature, his humor, his thoughtfulness. We will praise as his greatest strength the integrity of his word. When he made a promise to you, he kept it, no matter what.

What is harder for us to express is the emptiness we will feel in the Senate in his absence. Even when we are all crowded in the chamber for a vote, engaged in dozens of separate conversations, it will seem a quiet and less interesting place, in the knowledge that his booming voice, fueled by his passion for his convictions, will never encourage or assail or impress us again.

I will miss him very much.

Ted Kennedy was perhaps the greatest American legislator in the history of the country.

All hail Ted Kennedy, who witnessed the assasinations of both of his brothers John and Robert, yet perservered to make his country better.

Ted Kennedy, you were like so many of us: flawed and human. You realized that as a country, we are only as strong as the weakest amongst us.

Ted Kennedy you stuck up for the little man, the proletariet. The honest among us who are taken advantage of. The taxpayer. The American.

Ted Kennedy, you are the Kennedy who lived: you loved your country and we loved you. We will never forget your work ethic and your passions.

Ted Kennedy. Rest in peace.

MR