Remembering Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Floor Speech

REMEMBERING SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY -- (Senate - September 10, 2009)

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Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, this would be a particularly opportune important time for me to say a word about our friend, Senator Kennedy. I had not planned on doing so at this particular juncture, but someone very important to him, and in a very different way to me, is now in the gallery. So I will speak very briefly, but I do want to, as I have said before, thank Senator Kennedy for his kindness to me.

As a very senior and distinguished Senator, a person with a national and, indeed, international reputation, a person whose standing in this body was unmatched, a person whose legislative prowess and capability was unmatched, he did not need to pay any attention to a new Senator of no particular seniority, clout, or renown from Rhode Island. Yet he did, I think in large part due to the friendship the new Senator from Rhode Island had with his son, a very talented and able Member of the House of Representatives, who is senior to me in our Rhode Island delegation and who represents Rhode Island with exceptional distinction over in the House of Representatives. For that reason, and for the reason of a number of other family friendships, he was particularly kind to me. I appreciate that more than he could have imagined.

It is a bit daunting to come here as a new Senator not knowing whether you will find your way, not knowing whether you will evince any ability, not knowing whether you will have any effect, not knowing whether, indeed, you will be very welcome. You have to fight yourself through that stuff as a new Senator.

I can remember when I was presiding, where the distinguished junior Senator from Alaska is now sitting, and a colleague of ours who shall remain nameless was giving a speech of some length. Senator Kennedy was waiting to speak, and he sent a note up to me inquiring whether I felt that the standards of the speech we were then being treated to met the high standards of our common alma mater, the University of Virginia School of Law. I could not help but smile back and return the note, saying: No, I do not think so, but that is okay because I am waiting for a great speech from you.

There is one particular kindness I wanted to mention. Senator Kennedy was very important to Rhode Island. He was important to Rhode Island not just because of his son Patrick but because Rhode Island pays a lot of attention to Massachusetts, there is a lot of overlap in the constituencies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and Rhode Islanders have long admired Senator Kennedy. When he came on behalf of candidates, on behalf of his son, on behalf of me, on behalf of others, there was always an atmosphere of celebration around him and around the events he attended. Other speakers have spoken of his ability to rev up a crowd and get people fired up and enthusiastic, and he was really remarkable in that respect. We never tired of his visits, and Rhode Island always welcomed him with open arms.

He had a special place for Rhode Island, and in particular he had a special place for somebody who was very dear to both Congressman Kennedy and to myself; that is, a predecessor of mine here in the Senate from Rhode Island, Senator Claiborne Pell. Senator Pell was a political legend in Rhode Island, in many ways an improbable candidate.

Senator Kennedy's brother, President Kennedy, at one point said, publicly enough that it became a matter of sort of common discussion in Rhode Island, that Claiborne Pell was the least electable candidate he had ever seen. So when Claiborne Pell ran ahead of President Kennedy in Rhode Island in the election, it was a matter of great pride to Claiborne Pell and one that he was fond of reminding all Kennedys about.

It was, I guess as they would say in ``Casablanca,'' the beginning of a beautiful friendship. The friendship began back then. It continued long after Senator Pell had left the Senate. It continued long after Senator Pell had lost his ability to walk around and became confined to a wheelchair. It continued even long after Senator Pell had lost his ability to speak and could barely speak because of the consequences of his illness.

One of the ways it manifested itself is that every year Senator Kennedy would take the trouble to sail his sailboat, the Maya, from wherever it was in New England to Newport, RI, and there take Claiborne Pell out sailing. I had the pleasure to be on that last sail, and you could just imagine the scene, with the heaving dock and the heaving boat and Senator Pell in his wheelchair and a rather hazardous and impromptu loading of Senator Pell into the sailboat. And then, of course, it got underway. Because Senator Pell was having such trouble speaking, he really could not contribute much to a conversation. But Senator Kennedy had the gift of being able to handle both sides of a conversation and have everybody feel that a wonderful time was being had. So he carried on in a full, roaring dialog with Senator Pell, essentially providing both sides of that dialogue, and Senator Pell was smiling from ear to ear.

It said a lot about what I appreciate so much about Senator Kennedy. First of all, Rhode Island mattered to him, as it matters to Patrick Kennedy, as it matters to me. Second of all, as powerful as he was and as important as he was, friendship mattered more than authority or clout or power. There was nothing any longer that Senator Pell could do for Senator Kennedy. There was nothing that could be done to advance his legislative interests or his political interests or his fundraising interests or any other aspirations he may have had. But it mattered to him to do this because he was loyal and because friendship counted.

In a body in which opportunism and self-promotion and self-advancement are not unknown, it was remarkable of Senator Kennedy to give so much of his time to this particular pursuit, to this particular visit, taking his old, now disabled friend, out for a sail and giving him so much pleasure, with no hope or hint of reward or return to Senator Kennedy himself.

So I will conclude with that. I guess I will conclude with one other thing. He loved Robert Frost. On his desk here right now is a poem from Robert Frost, ``The Road Not Taken.''

I know he was fond of Frost's work in particular. I keep a little book of poems and things that matter to me, quotations, and one of them is a poem by Robert Frost. It is not ``The Road Not Taken,'' which is the poem on Senator Kennedy's desk. It is a different one. But I will close by reading it. It is called ``Acquainted with the Night.''

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain--and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat.
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

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