Senate Proceeding on Sep 10th, 2009 :: 4:45:00 to 4:52:30
Total video length: 9 hours 48 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:51 Duration: 0:07:30 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

4:44:58 to 4:45:18( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: i pay tribute to the lady of my hometown, i time. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the se?aor senator from north dakota is recognized. mr. conrad: mr. president, i

4:45:00 to 4:52:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Kent Conrad

4:45:19 to 4:45:39( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: thank the chair. i want to rise today to thank our colleague, senator kennedy. there's a newspaper in the cloakroom that has ted's picture. and it has a quote from ted. and it reads this way -- "since i was a boy, i had known the joy of sailing the waters off of

4:45:40 to 4:46:04( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: cape c. and for all of my years in public life, i have believed that america must sail toward the shores of justice for all." he went on to say: "there is no end to that journey, only the next great soyage."

4:46:05 to 4:46:25( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: -- voyage." i would like to think that ted is on that next great voyage now. i rember being sworn in in 1987. i held a reception at a little restaurant close by with friends and family from north dakota. i'll never

4:46:26 to 4:46:48( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: it was packed. you couldn't move. so many people had come from north dakota to be with me, family members from all over the country. and as can inof mine coming up to me so excited and he said to

4:46:49 to 4:47:10( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: me: senator kennedy's here. i hadn't known he was coming. that waso typical of ted, reaching out to the most junior of us, because he would know what his presence would mean. my family had been longtime supporters of the kennedys an it meant so much to my family for him to be there that day.

4:47:11 to 4:47:31( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: and that was so typical of him. taking time to do things that knew would mean a lot to others even when it was inconvenient for him. the tng i rember and will remember the most about ted is his humanity.

4:47:32 to 4:47:52( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: that smile, that twingle in his eye, that -- twingle in his eye, that mischievous grin that would come over his face when he would comment what was going on here late at night, sometimes this place, sense of description.

4:47:53 to 4:48:14( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: he maintained that sense of humor, that joy in life. and he communicated. he made all of us feel like we were part of something important, something big. and when somebody in this senate family had a problem, had a challenge, had a very often ted was the first to call.

4:48:15 to 4:48:37( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: i had someone in my family who had health issues and somehow ted found out up to me on the floor and said, i know that you have someone with a i know you must have doctors,

4:48:38 to 4:48:59( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: you but if you need additional assistance or a second opinion and you want to find people who are experts in this area, i'd be glad to that was ted kennedy. over an over reaching out to -- and over reach ying to help, trying to provide encouragement, trying to provide a lift. that was ted.

4:49:00 to 4:49:21( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: i rember so well about a decade ago when we were engaged in legislation on tobacco. and we which there was a -- an important court decision and there had to be laws passed to deal with it. and i was asked to lead a task

4:49:22 to 4:49:42( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: force here in the senate to try to bring together different sides to deal with that legislation. of course ted kennedy had been for a long time a leader on those issues as was senator frank lautenberg. and there were others as well. ted far outstripped me in

4:49:43 to 4:50:03( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: seniority and, yet, i was asked to lead this taskforce, and he came to me and said, sign me up as a soldier in your effort. and we had dozens of meetings. and ted was always there. pitching

4:50:04 to 4:50:24( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: difference even when he wasn't the person leading the effort. somebody much more junior -- of course, he had many other responsibilities. but over and over and over coming up, stepping up, helping out. there was nothing small about

4:50:25 to 4:50:46( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: ted kennedy. he had big plans. big ambitions. big hopes and a big spirit. and he was always reaching out to even the most junior of us to help out, to supportive, and to show how much

4:50:47 to 4:51:11( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: he cared about what we were doing and to give us a sense of how we were fitting in to making history. because ted also had a big view -- a big vw of the importance of the role of the united states senate in making history.

4:51:13 to 4:51:35( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: and a sense of how important the decisions that were being made in this there was nothing small about ted k when he was engaged in negotiations, i'll never forget him saying to me: keep your eye on what is possible. keep your possible.

4:51:36 to 4:51:59( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: you know, we might accomplish more, but take what you can get to advance the cause to make progress, to improve the human condition, to make this a better that's what ted kennedy had in mind. i want to just close. i see colleagues who are here

4:52:00 to 4:52:22( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: wishing to speak as well. my favorite line from a speech by ted kennedy were at the 1980 convention when these words. "for all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the

4:52:23 to 4:52:35( Edit History Discussion )

Kent Conrad: still lives, and the dream shall never die." ted, the dream will never die. you're always in our thoughts.