Kennedy illness robs Senate of dealmaker
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Edward Kennedy's diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor left Congress this week without its best dealmaker as well as its boldest liberal, a politician known simultaneously for his staunch left-wing positions and for his willingness to work with right-wing lawmakers to get legislation passed.
The Senate opened its debate on paying for another year of the Iraq war without the Massachusetts Democrat's customary roar of outrage. Just as evident was his absence when President Bush on Wednesday signed a law Kennedy forged with Republicans to protect people from losing their jobs or health insurance because their genes say they're prone to future illness.
The president paid tribute to Kennedy at the White House signing ceremony, saying the liberal senator "has worked for over a decade to get this piece of legislation to a president's desk."
Whenever there was a deal to be made on an important piece of legislation, the scion of the famed political family was somewhere nearby despite his celebrity reputation as one of the Senate's last liberal lions.
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That willingness to buck his own party and cut deals means that Kennedy has left his stamp on a raft of health care, civil rights, welfare, housing, education, foreign affairs and other issues.
"He has crossed the aisle and sponsored so many legislative enactments," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
Conservative Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., added: "Although it is no surprise there are areas where we have a difference of opinion, there are also many areas where we worked together, particularly on child-care and disability issues."
In a climate that values party loyalty and making political points more than making laws, there is a dearth of potential stand-ins.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is perhaps the closest, but his alliances with Democrats on campaign finance reform, immigration, torture and other issues has tested the patience of his party's conservative base going into the November election.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reached out and negotiated a $168 billion package of tax rebates and other measure with President Bush earlier this year. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has put together bipartisan coalitions for advancing measures to save hundreds of thousands of strapped homeowners from foreclosures and secure civil rights for homosexuals.
Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina has cut deals with Democrats on getting conservative judges confirmed, banning torture in interrogating terrorism suspects, getting tougher with China on trade and expanding health care for members of the National Guard and Reserves.
But none of them hold anywhere near the reputation and record that Kennedy has in forging interparty coalitions and keeping them together.
The list of issues Kennedy has impacted is long and varied.
In 1973, after the Watergate scandal, Kennedy co-sponsored the first bipartisan campaign finance bill. It established new contribution limits and a public financing provision for presidential elections.
Kennedy was instrumental in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and many other health care initiatives.
He was a key Senate backer of Title IX, a 1972 amendment requiring colleges and universities to provide equal funding for men's and women's athletics.
He's also been a champion of minimum-wage increases, pushing the most recent effort to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2009.
And standing at his side for many of his legislative accomplishments is usually a Republican whom Kennedy has worked with to get results.
"I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results," McCain said.
"Senator Kennedy enjoys great respect and admiration on this side of the aisle," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "He is, indeed, one of the most important figures to ever serve in this body in our history, and Republican senators recognize that as well."
While not officially a member of Senate leadership, few deals are struck without Kennedy's viewpoint being sought. Kennedy is the Senate's second-longest serving member and is not up for election again until 2012.
"Teddy's been one of those people who just transcends politics," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., on CBS's Early Show. "When you get into that cloakroom after a good, hard fight, you'll never have a better friend on the other side than Ted. So that's, I think, why you're seeing as much of a strong response to his difficulty."
Kennedy's absence leaves a hole in Congress and a definite delay for legislation the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee chairman was working on.
Doctors performed a biopsy Monday that led them to diagnose the Massachusetts Democrat with malignant glioma. While doctors said Kennedy "has recovered remarkably quickly" from the brain biopsy, he will stay at his home over the Memorial Day weekend while awaiting further test results that will help determine his treatment plan.
That means a delay in the personal negotiations he had planned for overhauling higher education, allowing all police, firefighters and other first responders to unionize and strengthening privacy protections in a bill to expand the use of information technology in health care.
For example, a bipartisan compromise on the higher education bill was expected to create a new, shorter financial aid application form for low-income families.
"We have a handful of issues, however, that remain outstanding, and we believe that we will be able to reach resolution on these issues over the next few weeks," said Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla. "Of course, there may be some complications outside of our control, not the least of which is possibly Senator Kennedy's situation and recovery."
Kennedy's not finished, lawmakers said, calling his illness merely a setback.
"When I saw him there on Saturday, literally hours after his seizure, he's talking about the things he had yet to do or something he promised me he was going to do. He's unstoppable," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said on NBC's "Today Show." ''And I think it's that fighting spirit that so many people around here have just come to love."