Thomas Daschle: “I join my colleagues in extending my sincere sympathy to my friend and colleague, Senator Ted Kennedy on the death of…”

“I join my colleagues in extending my sincere sympathy to my friend and colleague, Senator Ted Kennedy on the death of his mother. Mrs. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy lived a life that saw more than its share of public tragedy and private sorrow. Her courage and her profound faith in her church and her God gave her the strength to be the support of her children and an inspiration to all Americans. Mrs. Kennedy's passing is a loss to our Nation. No one old enough to remember will ever forget the fortitude with which she bore the assassination of two beloved sons, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy. Her public strength helped the Nation endure, as her private strength has always been, in the words of her son John, 'the glue that held the Kennedy family together.' The tragedies she suffered did not diminish her sense of service. Into an age where no one would have questioned a desire to retire from public life, she traveled tirelessly, promoting the work of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, to aid the mentally retarded. Her spirit and work earned her the admiration of the entire world and made Americans very proud. So today I know that I express the sentiment of all of our colleagues in saying that our prayers are with her son, our colleague, Ted, and her other children and grandchildren on this occasion.”