And this summer as he faced yet another challenge, he and Vicky have taught us all about dignity, courage and the power of love. In this campaign, Ba… - Caroline Kennedy

Joe Biden is admired abroad because of his record of accomplishment at home. As senator, he secured a unanimous vote to extend the Voting Rights Act for 25 years. He led the fight to ban assault weapons — twice defeating the NRA. He wrote and passed the Violence Against Women Act to combat domestic violence and sexual assault. He won Senate support for historic agreements to reduce nuclear arsenals and ban chemical weapons.

But it's the life he's led that is the true source of this inspiration – a life spent fighting for ordinary people in neighborhoods and courts in the state Senate and in the United States Senate. I've never had someone inspire me the way people tell me my father inspired them, but I do now – Barack Obama. And I know someone else who has been inspired all over again by Senator Obama. In our family, he's known as Uncle Teddy. More than any senator of his generation or perhaps any generation, Teddy has made life better for people in this country and around the world. For 46 years, he's been so much more than just a senator for the people of Massachusetts. He's been a senator for all who believe in a dream that's never died.

I'm here tonight I'm here tonight to pay tribute to two men who have changed my life and the life of this country – Barack Obama and Edward M. Kennedy. Their stories are very different but they share a commitment to the timeless American ideals of justice and fairness, service and sacrifice, faith and family. Leaders like them come along rarely. But once or twice in a lifetime, they come along just when we need them the most. This is one of those moments. As our nation faces a fundamental choice between moving forward or falling farther behind, Senator Obama offers the change we need. Everywhere I go in this country, people tell me that Barack Obama is making them feel hopeful, the way they did when my father was president. It's hardly the words he uses – words that remind us that we are all in this together and that we each have something to contribute to this country that has given us so much.