I don't know what to say about the Senator's prognosis and his life, so I've just copied this dry piece from The Boston Globe:
1965: Immigration
In his first major legislative accomplishment, the 32-year-old Kennedy managed the successful floor battle to pass the Hart-Celler Act, a reform of immigration policy that abolished quotas and lifted a 1924 ban on immigration from Asia.
1971: Cancer
After rising to the position of majority whip in 1969, which made him the third-ranking Senate Democrat, Kennedy and Representative Paul G. Rogers, a Democrat of Florida, passed legislation establishing a federal cancer research program in 1971 that quadrupled the amount spent fighting cancer.
1972: Women's sports
Kennedy was a key Senate backer of Title IX, a 1972 amendment to federal education law that helped spur the growth of women's college sports by requiring colleges and universities to provide equal funding for men's and women's athletics.
1974: Campaign finance
Joining with Senator Hugh Scott, Republican of Pennsylvania, Kennedy sponsored the sweeping overhaul of ethics rules after Watergate that imposed limits on contributions to political candidates and set up the public financing system for presidential candidates in 1974.
1983: MLK holiday
In the early 1980s, Kennedy teamed with civil rights leaders to urge the creation of the Martin Luther King Day holiday, which was eventually approved by overwhelming margins in both Houses and approved by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
1986: Anti-apartheid
After Reagan vetoed economic sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa in 1986, Kennedy spearheaded the bipartisan effort in both Houses to override the veto. The law banned the purchase of gold, coal, iron, and other goods from South Africa.
1990: Family leave
Kennedy and Chris Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, authored the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1990. The law required businesses to provide unpaid leave in the case of family emergencies or after the birth of infants, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
1993: Student loans
In response to concerns that students were getting bad deals from private lenders, Kennedy sponsored a Department of Education program in 1993 that allowed students to borrow directly from the federal government instead.
1996: Healthcare
Kennedy joined with Senator Nancy Kassebaum, Republican of Kansas, in 1996 to pass the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act, which allowed employees to keep health insurance after leaving their job and prohibited health insurance companies from refusing to renew coverage on the basis of preexisting medical conditions.
1996: Minimum wage
Kennedy was the lead Senate sponsor of legislation increasing the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15. He reprised this role in 2007, after Democrats retook Congress, quarterbacking the effort to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2009.
2001: Education
Over the objections of some fellow Democrats, Kennedy helped pass President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, a sweeping law that required more rigorous testing of public school students and makes it easier for parents to transfer their children from low-performing schools.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
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6 comments:
Interesting list. I have to take issue with a couple of these "highlights", though.
Immigration: Those banned quotas aren't working out so well these days - especially where I live.
Cancer: I don't think the pharma lobbyist/ government relationship has worked out all too well, do you? Biotech doesn't pay taxes on this money and overspends just to get stuff *looked at* by the FDA. We're footing the bill for their inefficiencies. This system, while perhaps well-intentioned, is incredibly flawed.
Women's sports: Rad! WTG, Teddy!
Campaign finance: Also rad!
MLK: Awesomeness continues!
Anti-apartheid: Even more awesomeness!
Family leave: Can't argue with that!
Student Loans: This basically ensured that if you go broke or make a minuscule salary out of college (which most do), you will always have to pay on your loans. Private loan companies can transfer their debtors - without any recourse - to government loan entities once the loans start to require repayment. There is no renegotiating beyond consolidation (which doesn't do a whole lot). Bankruptcy doesn't save you, either.
Healthcare: Good intentions, but loopholes aplenty.
Minimum wage: Good stuff!
Education: No Child Left Behind is an abject failure and one of the more poorly-thought-out "reforms" of the Bush era.
All in all, not a bad record. But then there's also that whole Chappaquiddick thing. ;)
I think it unfair to criticize complex federal legislation passed in 1965 in the context of problems in California today. Those problems are not due to the 1965 laws. There have been PLENTY of years for state and federal leaders to fine tune the rules.
I take issue similarly with your take on the cancer research law of 1971, though your criticism is even more out of context. Surely the system is flawed, but that is not due to the legislative success of 1971.
With NCLB, the idea was good but Republicans withdrew education funding that would have made it work with their familiar Reaganesque cry of government being "the problem, not the solution".
I think the specifics of what Kennedy worked on in the Senate and supported shows a perfect record of good policy in the specifics of what he did. Of course the entirety of 'the system' is flawed, but it is not right to blame someone who worked to improve things for all the stuff that isn't perfect.
You're right, of course. More accurately, the crap system we're stuck with could ruin a birthday cake.
I wasn't attempting to blame a politician; rather, the outcome of good intentions perverted by our government. It was more a comment on how distorted things have become.
As a side note: I think it's cool to have a political back-and-forth without someone going into histrionics. I can't seem to express an opinion without someone taking it as a GRAVE, PERSONAL OFFENSE these days.
Yeah Jen, I find the back-and-forth so much easier when you say "you're right" :-D
Heh. Well, I'm nothing if not humble enough to admit that I've missed the mark. 8)
For some, it wouldn't even matter that I would concede a point or two; the horrible, horrible damage to their delicate psyches by my opinion would have overcome them instantly and irrevocably.
No, I'm not bitter at all.
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