His brother inspired many of us into lives of public service, but he was brutally taken from us before he could lead us in those endeavors. President Kennedy's two brothers did what they could, but only one survived the turbulent 1960s.

He, too, is gone, but tonight was his finest hour. Yes, there are things in this bill with which he would not be happy, and there are things that must be done as we go forward.

For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

The heroes of our past have been part of the posts under this name all week starting with Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson and ending with the inspirational words of our current President, a man who joins the great people who have served in that office as yet another one who has moved our country forward.

The Speaker of the House, too, is an American hero. More on that another night but what she has done tonight and this year is nothing short of astounding. Speaker Rayburn would be so proud, as would Mayor D'Alesandro.

Tonight, though, the man who is most responsible for what has been achieved deserves the center stage. Many great men and women have served in the Senate, as have many scoundrels. Daniel Webster, Robert LaFollete, Robert Wagner and Arthur Vandenburg come immediately to mind as among the best of them, but there are others including Lyndon B. Johnson and Everett Dirksen and whoever it was who voted against the conviction on impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and last his office but was eulogized a century later by John F. Kennedy.

My vote for the greatest of all time is Edward Moore Kennedy and the reasons for that vote are legion. Those reasons will be posted some other day, though, because tonight is Senator Kennedy's night and the rest of this post belongs to him:

Finally, we cannot have a fair prosperity in isolation from a fair society. So I will continue to stand for a national health insurance.

We must not surrender to the relentless medical inflation that can bankrupt almost anyone and that may soon break the budgets of government at every level. Let us insist on real control over what doctors and hospitals can charge, and let us resolve that the state of a family's health shall never depend on the size of a family's wealth.

The President, the Vice President, the members of Congress have a medical plan that meets their needs in full, and whenever senators and representatives catch a little cold, the Capitol physician will see them immediately, treat them promptly, fill a prescription on the spot. We do not get a bill even if we ask for it, and when do you think was the last time a member of Congress asked for a bill from the Federal Government?

I say again, as I have before, if health insurance is good enough for the President, the Vice President and the Congress of the United States, then it is good enough for you and every family in America.

--- Keynote address, Democratic National Convention, August 12, 1980

For me this is a season of hope -- new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many, and not just for the few -- new hope.

And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege

---Democratic National Convention, August 25, 2008