THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Thank you, Patrick, for that generous introduction, and for ensuring that the Kennedy family spirit of public service lives on as strong as ever. Some of the Cabinet Secretaries who are doing good work day in and day out on behalf of the American people have joined us tonight, so I want to make mention of them. Our outstanding Attorney General Eric Holder. (Applause.) Our Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who's doing wonderful work. (Applause.) Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. (Applause.) And Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. (Applause.) It's also a testament to Ted Kennedy that so many of his Congressional colleagues and friends have come together for this cause. And I want to thank Ted's longtime friend and advisor, and our newest member of the United States Senate, Paul Kirk, for his deep commitment to public service. (Applause.) Paul, I hope you remember to add your name to the drawer of the desk into which two Kennedys from Massachusetts carved theirs before you. And to Vicki and all the members of the Kennedy family -- to Ted and Kara, obviously Patrick -- there are few who are not inspired by the grace and love that all of you have shown throughout a difficult time. Our friend Ted left us less than two months ago. In the days that followed, we gathered in Boston to celebrate his life -- with a joyous Irish wake of sorts at the John F. Kennedy Library, and with heavy hearts on Mission Hill. We watched as mourners lined the streets of Massachusetts and Washington in the rain to say a final thank you; and as decades' worth of his colleagues and staff lined the steps of the Capitol to say a final goodbye. We smiled as the Caucus Room in the Russell Building, a room where so much American history was made, was renamed for the three Kennedy brothers who served there. And over those days, there was some small measure of comfort in the fact that millions of Americans were reminded of Ted Kennedy's legacy, and a new ...
