'Lion of the Senate' Kennedy Dies at 77, Leaves Health Committee Without Leader

In the year that is finally seeing a major debate of his political dream -- full health care access for Americans -- Sen. Edward Kennedy has died of cancer. His death leaves his own Senate health reform bill at the center of the political storm, but without its author as rudder. And it leaves the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee without its longtime chairman.

The last member of the Kennedy family's most famous generation had his hand in almost every major health care and social-services bill passed in recent decades. This year's reform effort was no exception. His bill, which among other things would establish a government-run insurer to compete with the private companies, was the first health care bill to pass through a committee -- his own health committee, though he wasn't at its helm. Through most of this session, "Teddy" Kennedy, 77, was struggling through treatments for a brain tumor, and his closest friend in the Senate, Chris Dodd, D-Conn., was filling in as chairman of the committee.

Dodd sent out a statement in the hours after the announcement of Kennedy's death. "He fought to the very end for the cause of his life -- ensuring that all Americans have the health care they need," said Dodd, who has undergone surgery recently for his own bout with prostate cancer. Dodd said that his friend "stands among the most respected senators in history." He said, "I will miss him every day I serve, and every day I live."

As senior Democrat on the health committee, the question will arise: Will Dodd take over the powerful committee? Dodd already chairs another committee with tremendous reach in the insurance industry: Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Dodd has said in the past that he fell into the banking committee, though his heart was in the other panel, which has more reach in social issues.

Kennedy, the nine-term senator known as the "Lion of the Senate," had worked in that body for almost half a century. He was the second longest-serving current member, next to Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., who has been serving longer than any senator in history -- elected a few years before Kennedy. Kennedy was the third longest-serving senator in history. Having already been diagnosed with cancer, Kennedy was seen as passing the political baton of an older generation of Democrats to then-senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, who has become the public leader of the health care effort that Kennedy championed.

"I had the honor to call Teddy a colleague, a counselor and a friend," President Obama said in a brief speech. He called Kennedy a "singular figure in American history" who helped establish "an America that is more equal and more just." Obama said that, unlike in the sudden assassinations of his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, his death gave people time to say good-bye and to thank him. "His extraordinary life on this earth has come to an end. The extraordinary good he did lives on."

In a statement from the Kennedy family posted Aug. 26 on his Senate Web site, they said, "Edward M. Kennedy -- the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply --died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We?ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever."

Though America's Health Insurance Plans disagreed with Kennedy's position on a government-run insurer, its president and chief executive officer, Karen Ignagni, issued a statement: "Senator Edward Kennedy was America's health care champion. His contribution to health care policy is unmatched."