Press Release: LULAC Mourns the Passing of Our Friend Senator Ted Kennedy.

“In honor of Senator Ted Kennedy legacy, pass health care reform”.

August 27, 2009

Contact: Lizette Jenness Olmos
(202) 365-4553

Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens, the country’s largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country, is heartbroken to learn of the passing of our dear friend and champion, Senator Ted Kennedy who fought for the voiceless.
 
“He was a person that did what was right even if it was not politically expedient. He cared about education and took on America’s unions and liberal interests in order to get that victory, working again with the Republicans on Capitol Hill,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. “He was also friendly and engaging and always remembered who you were whether a politician or an average citizen.”
 
Senator Kennedy was the third longest serving Senator who was adored by millions of Americans. He was respected by colleagues on both sides of the aisle for his energy, his passion, his humor, his compassion, his friendship and above all his commitment to serving his country in pursuit of justice and equality for all Americans.
 
“Senator Ted Kennedy said the Hispanic community was being abused and needed to fight back for what was right on Immigration,” said LULAC National Executive Director Brent Wilkes. “He always told you what he thought even when you did not want to hear it.”
 
For five decades, Senator Ted Kennedy was a fighter on every issue dear to the Hispanic community. His leadership and commitment to fairness and equity resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the 1993 Family and Medical Act and the Kennedy-Hatch law of 1997. Currently, legislation authored by Senator Kennedy to curb Hate Crimes is before the Senate.
 
Thirty-nine years ago, Senator Kennedy introduced his first bill to overhaul our nation's broken healthcare system and provide affordable coverage to all Americans. Health care reform was referred by Senator Kennedy as the cause of his life and today we are closer than ever to achieving his dream. As the Senator stated time and time again, ‘we believe that access to healthcare should be a right — not a privilege — in this country.’ Thus to honor his wish we shall pass the health care legislation this year.
Let us continue his cause. Let us take action this year to pass healthcare reform. And let us continue to make Kennedy's vision for America a reality.
Americans will remember him as one of the greatest and most accomplished legislators in U.S. history.
 
The League of United Latin American Citizens advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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