History-making former Mississippi statesman Robert G. Clark said he is deeply saddened by the recent news of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) death.
Often dubbed the “liberal lion” of the United States Senate, Kennedy died of brain cancer Tuesday night at his Cape Cod, Mass., home. He was 77.
“Sen. Ted Kennedy and I met many, many years ago,” Clark said. “In fact, I have a photo on display in my home that he and I took back then.” Clark describes the long-serving United States senator as “a champion for justice and equality for every individual without regard to race.”
Clark said he feels that in light of Kennedy’s death, congress should speed up the passage of the national healthcare bill. “I think they should pass it and name the healthcare plan after him [Kennedy],” he said. Clark also pointed out that the pending healthcare legislation “is the type of healthcare Sen. Kennedy was fighting for when President Obama was still in high school or college.”
Speaking of President Obama, he paused early Wednesday morning, Aug. 26, from his vacation at Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark, Mass., to comment on the senator’s passing. The following is an excerpt from his remarks:
“The outpouring of love, gratitude, and fond memories to which we’ve all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives. His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives – in seniors who know new dignity, in families that know new opportunity, in children who know education’s promise, and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just – including myself.”
Clark and a number of Mississippians join the President and the nation in mourning the loss of Sen. Kennedy.
Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said in this written statement to The Mississippi Link, “Sen. Kennedy’s passing is sad news for the downtrodden, the underserved and the voiceless in our country. He was a true champion for justice and served our nation and her people well for nearly fifty years.”
Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said his sympathy goes out to the Kennedy family. “It’s a sad, sad, sad, sad day in Mississippi, the United States and the world to lose such a man,” said Stokes. “He had a caring heart and tried to help everybody.”
In 1965, Democratic leaders gave Kennedy the job of pushing a bill “to eliminate the quota system that had made it virtually impossible for anyone from anywhere but Western Europe to immigrate to the USA,” according to reports.
A U.S. Army veteran (1951-1953), Sen. Kennedy held his Senate seat for more than forty years. According to his biographical profile, he authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors.
His other successes include reducing the voting age from 21 to 18, and Title IX, which gave women’s athletics much better funding.
Throughout the nation, many are now questioning, who will fill the ‘legendary’ congressman’s seat? “I definitely would like to see one of the Kennedys step up and take his place,” said Clark, who himself served for decades in the Mississippi legislature as the first African American representative since the Reconstruction era.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will lie in repose Thursday, Aug. 27, and Friday, Aug. 28, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, followed by a private memorial at the library on Friday night.
His funeral will be held on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston followed by burial later that day near his slain brothers at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
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