Reid calls Kennedy “an American Icon”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, issued this statement on the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.:
"The Kennedy family and the Senate family have together lost our patriarch.  My thoughts, and those of the entire United States Senate, are with Vicki, Senator Kennedy’s children, his many nieces and nephews, and his entire family.

“It was the thrill of my lifetime to work with Ted Kennedy.  He was a friend, the model of public service and an American icon.

“As we mourn his loss, we rededicate ourselves to the causes for which he so dutifully dedicated his life.  Senator Kennedy’s legacy stands with the greatest, the most devoted, the most patriotic men and women to ever serve in these halls.

“Because of Ted Kennedy, more young children could afford to become healthy.  More young adults could afford to become students.  More of our oldest citizens and our poorest citizens could get the care they need to live longer, fuller lives.  More minorities, women and immigrants could realize the rights our founding documents promised them.  And more Americans could be proud of their country.

“Ted Kennedy’s America was one in which all could pursue justice, enjoy equality and know freedom.  Ted Kennedy’s life was driven by his love of a family that loved him, and his belief in a country that believed in him.  Ted Kennedy’s dream was the one for which the founding fathers fought and his brothers sought to realize.

“The liberal lion’s mighty roar may now fall silent, but his dream shall never die.”