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The enduring legacy of the Kennedy family is public service. The careers of the Kennedy brothers as members of the legislative and executive branches of government have focused on the fight against injustice wherever they may have found it. John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy have been champions of the less fortunate, and they have also worked tirelessly in support of the needs of working men and women.

As United States Senators, they served on the Labor and Human Resources and Judicial Committees. As a result of their efforts, legislation has passed into law that created equal pay for women, increases in the minimum wage, time and a half for overtime work, meals on wheels, parental leave, Head Start, child health insurance, health insurance portability, education funding, teacher training, childhood immunization, Indian education, occupational safety, civil rights for the disabled, consumer protection, the war on cancer, nurses training, legal services, support for people with mental retardation, the Age Discrimination Act, Literacy Corps, fair housing, Satellite Education, and job training programs to name just a few.

As President, John F. Kennedy was the first to call the challenge of civil rights a moral issue for this nation. Robert and Edward Kennedy lead the way on civil rights legislation from the elimination of the poll tax, and protection of voting rights to the integration of schools and right to public accommodations. Eighteen year olds gained the right to vote under the sponsorship of Senator Edward Kennedy, and women got an equal right to athletic program funding because of his efforts on behalf of Title IX legislation. To preserve our environment and keep our citizens safer, the Kennedy brothers have been on the forefront of the drive to insure clean air and water, and obtain gun control legislation.

Reaching out to the rest of the world President Kennedy created the Peace Corps, which embodies his ethic of public service. Because he looked to the future, he challenged us to go to the moon. And in marshalling all of our resources and talent to accomplish that historic goal, great discoveries were made that benefit our daily life here on earth. Robert Kennedy fought to end the Vietnam War and in South Africa, to end apartheid. Picking up their fallen standards, Edward Kennedy carried on those efforts and became a champion of human rights around the globe.

The sisters of John, Robert and Edward Kennedy have made significant contributions in the area of public service as well. Eunice Kennedy Shriver started the Special Olympics in her backyard and guided it into becoming a worldwide effort and International Organization that has greatly enhanced the lives of people with mental retardation. President Reagan presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her outstanding work. She is married to Sargent Shriver, who helped to launch the Peace Corps and became its first Director. He too has been honored with the Medal of Freedom for his achievements.

Jean Kennedy Smith started Very Special Arts, which became an International Organization that provides cultural opportunities for the mentally and physically challenged. She has served as Ambassador to Ireland and made significant contributions to the Irish peace process. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Patricia Kennedy Lawford has worked on behalf of literacy programs in New York City, and been active in the creative decisions and original planning for the displays and outreach programs of the John F. Kennedy Library. Senator Kennedy's wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, works to save children's lives by promoting gun safety.

The grandchildren of Rose and Joseph Kennedy have followed in their parent's public service footsteps. They have been elected to public office at the state and national level, worked on behalf of human rights around the globe, Special Olympics, and Very Special Arts. They have volunteered at soup kitchens, on Indian reservations, and organized food banks. In addition, they have taught in Head Start programs, fought to preserve the environment, saved marine mammals, encouraged and inspired those stricken with cancer, assisted the cause of civil rights, worked for justice for the physically challenged, supported training for health care givers, and tried to better inner city schools.

The members of the Kennedy family have always believed in public service, and that there are many ways one can serve one's country and community without being in elective office. However they also strongly believe that politics is an honorable profession -- one that should be embraced for the opportunity it presents to help better the lives of our fellow citizens here and around the world. For as President Kennedy said "It is politicians who make the great decisions of war and peace, prosperity and recession, the decision whether we look to the future or the past. In a large sense everything now depends on what the government decides."

John, Robert and Edward Kennedy have followed the credo that "One person can make a difference and every one should try." They dedicated their lives to trying to make a difference, and their remarkable example has inspired people throughout our nation and the world.

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