So this aspect of health and the coverage and the rest of the policy issues are all rooted in a very early association and personal attachment. Final… - Ted Kennedy

Never say in grief you are sorry he's gone. Rather, say in thankfulness you are grateful he was here.

Well, I've been there on the front lines fighting for working families. And I can tell you, we weren't coasting, we were seizing an opportunity when Al Gore and I worked with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch to pass landmark health care coverage for children. And now, two million more children have health coverage. That's called progress -- not partisanship -- and that is Al Gore's way. We weren't drifting, we were moving ahead when Al Gore and I worked with Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum to see that a family doesn't lose health coverage just because a parent loses a job or changes jobs. And today, we are working with Republicans and Democrats alike to make it even stronger. That's called progress -- not partisanship -- and that is Al Gore's way. We weren't gridlocked, we were raising up our nation when Al Gore and I worked with Republican Senator Jim Jeffords to make sure that people with disabilities can keep their health care when they join the workforce. And today, more and more of the disabled are putting their abilities to work for themselves and for America. That's called progress -- not partisanship -- and that is Al Gore's way.

I am committed to this campaign because I am committed to those ideals. I am committed to an America where the many who are handicapped, the minority who are not white and the majority who are women will not suffer from injustice, where the Equal Rights Amendment will be ratified, and where equal pay and opportunity will become a reality rather than a worn and fading hope. I want to be the President who finally achieves full civil rights -- and who passes an economic bill of rights for women . And I am committed to an America where average-income workers will not pay more taxes than many millionaires, and where a few corporations will not stifle competition in our economy. I want to be the President who at last closes tax loopholes and tames monopoly, so that the free enterprise system will be free in fact. And I am committed to an America where the state of a person's health will not be determined by the amount of a person's wealth. I want to be the President who brings national health insurance to safeguard every family from the fear of bankruptcy due to illness. And I am committed to an America where the cities that are the center of our civilization and the farms that are the source of our food will be preserved and strengthened. I want to be the President who halts the loss of rural land to giant conglomerates and who declines to accept urban slums, unequal schools, and an unemployment rate in the inner city that approaches 50 percent. And I am committed to an America that will safeguard the land and the air for future generations. I want to be the President who stops the seeding of the earth with radioactive wastes from nuclear plants and who refuses to rely on a nuclear future that may hazard the future itself. And I am committed to an America that is powerful enough to deter war and to do the work of peace. I want to be a President who does not rush to a helter-skelter militarism or a heedless isolationism, who improves our military without gilding our weapons, who lifts at least a little the nuclear night that hangs over the world and who makes the world itself a little safer for both diversity and democracy. And for all these commitments, I have only just begun to fight.