Max Cleland: “it is an honor to be in the presence of true greatness in the Senate, to be in the presence of one of the great Senators…”

“it is an honor to be in the presence of true greatness in the Senate, to be in the presence of one of the great Senators we have in this body, Senator Ted Kennedy. May I also say, I identify with Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah that in terms of my service with Senator Kennedy, a lot of my constituents pray for me, too. I might say, though, Senator Kennedy and his family are really the reason I got involved in politics. I came to this town as a young 21-year-old and sat in the gallery much as Senator Dick Durbin said he sat in the gallery and watched Senator Kennedy come to the Chamber as a freshman Member of the Senate. To me, that was the ultimate in public service and citizenship at that time. For me, to be a freshman in the Senate, and Senator Kennedy still being here, is one of the great rewards of my life. It is interesting that we are going to be considering an election reform bill in just a few moments. The point is, we are trying to improve the very democracy we have been given by our ancestors. But you cannot do that without leaders. Harry Truman once said: A leader is someone who gets people to do what they ought to do anyway. People in this country ought to register, they ought to vote, they ought to turn out, they ought to be interested in politics, but many are not. So we need inspiring leaders. Ted Kennedy, for me, is an inspiring leader. He came to this body when he was young and has stayed here dedicating his life to this body, this Senate.”