my tentative ltte on Ted Kennedy

On the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy,I thought it important to reflect on how far-reaching his efforts have been.He has served Americans like few other statesmen.
In the area of health,Kennedy has few peers.He saw the success of Medicare for seniors as early as 1969,and encouraged the nation to consider a plan that covers all citizens in that fashion.
In 1985, he helped enact the provisions in the Consolidated Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which today gives American workers the right to temporarily continue their employer health coverage when they lose their jobs and their insurance would otherwise end.In 1996, he sponsored the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which ensures access to health care coverage for an estimated 25 million Americans who move from one job to another, are self-employed or have pre-existing medical conditions.In 1985,Senator Kennedy pushed Congress to establish the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to support state efforts to provide health insurance to uninsured children in low-income families.In 1990, Senator Kennedy introduced the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, which created the single largest federal program for people with HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
Regarding education,Senator Kennedy was a tireless crusader for advanced education for all citizens.Until Senator Kennedy changed the law, the Federal government paid hospital physician costs out of Medicare, the popular health program for America’s elderly. As a result, children’s hospitals –which train a third of the nation’s pediatricians and pediatric specialists – were neglected.In 1999, Congress enacted the Healthcare Research and Quality Act, which established the Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) Program. The program provides federal funding to support graduate medical education at children’s teaching hospitals, comparable to the funding that adult teaching hospitals receive through Medicare.
Beginning with his support of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which was the
centerpiece of the War on Poverty and created Head Start, Senator Kennedy has been the voice for early childhood education.Early Head Start, created by Senator Kennedy in 1994, serves infants and toddlers in poverty. It has been recognized as one of the most effective programs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Senator Kennedy supported the creation of the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant. This program, which later became known as the Pell Grant in 1980, drastically increased the availability of grant aid to disadvantaged students. Senator Kennedy was also a key supporter of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which protected women from discrimination in educational institutions and increased athletic opportunities for women in colleges and universities.
There are many,many more examples of the active role this man has played in the improvement of the standard of living for all Americans.I thought it fitting to bring some of his achievements to the forefront.Rest in peace,Senator.Your nation thanks you.

and already,my paper has printed a less than flattering obit
http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2009/08/26/obituaries/doc4a9541bfb19b4543080938.txt
and,yes-I replied with a list of all his accomplishments.