Political positions of Ted Kennedy
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) took positions on many political issues throughout his career via his public comments and senatorial voting record.
[1] Kennedy's reversal on this issue after the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 became a source of continuing dispute between him and the Catholic Church, of which he was a member.
Speaking at the National Press Club in 2005, he remarked, "Surely, we can all agree that abortion should be rare, and that we should do all we can to help women avoid the need to face that decision.
[5][6][7][8] Kennedy introduced,[9] and was a strong supporter of, the 1965 Hart-Celler Act – signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson – which dramatically changed U.S. immigration policy.
Among other reforms, the 1033 legislation proposed allowing "undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to come out of the shadows, submit to background checks, and register for a legal status.
Among authors of other letters to Reid on this subject were Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joseph Biden, Russ Feingold, and Barbara Boxer.
[16] Despite publicly becoming a major voice for some in the anti-war movement, it was acknowledged that Kennedy refused to heed calls to investigate the legality of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and that in October 1965, Kennedy publicly denounced the growing number of anti-war demonstrations, while visiting the South Vietnam capital of Saigon to discuss refugee problems.
But the administration has not made a convincing case that we face such an imminent threat to our national security that a unilateral pre-emptive American strike and an immediate war are necessary.
... With all the talk of war, the administration has not explicitly acknowledged, let alone explained to the American people, the immense postwar commitment that will be required to create a stable Iraq.As the Iraqi insurgency grew in subsequent years, Kennedy pronounced that the conflict was "Bush's Vietnam.
[21] In early 2007, preceding Bush's announcement that he would initiate a troop surge in Iraq, Kennedy made a speech at the National Press Club opposing it.
[24] According to one tally, Ted Kennedy voted 100 percent in concert with positions taken by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
In his Senate career, Kennedy promoted US aid to Israel, and fought against proposed arms sales to Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, said Kennedy would be missed, and that he was a great friend of Israel.
In the critical region of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, Israel is a rock of strength, stability, and friendship, ... We must never barter the freedom and future of Israel for a barrel of oil - or foolishly try to align the Arab world with us, no matter what cost.Kennedy was outspoken in his views about Northern Ireland's constitutional question.
[29][30] In early 2005, Kennedy publicly snubbed Gerry Adams by canceling a previously arranged meeting, citing the Provisional Irish Republican Army's "ongoing criminal activity and contempt for the rule of law."
The new cuts, which Kennedy also opposed, involved reducing the interest the federal government would pay on student loans, and on Clinton's direct lending program.
Kennedy supported the College Affordability and Access Act of 2007, which provides $20 billion in new federal financial aid investments for low- and middle-income students and their families.
[34] Research[35] for this bill uncovered that approximately 48 states had restrictions excluding children with disabilities from the public school system.
A long-time member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and its chairman from 1979 to 1981), Kennedy was an important Democratic voice during debates and confirmation votes on United States Supreme Court nominees.
Of Richard Nixon's nominees, he backed the successful nominations of Warren Burger (for Chief Justice), Harry Blackmun, and Lewis F. Powell.
Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, though, said that Kennedy's speech was "technically accurate, but unfair", and said that it "drew lines in ways that were starker than reality".
From 2001 to 2003, Kennedy led a forty-five member all-Democrat Senate filibuster to block the appointment of former assistant Solicitor General Miguel Estrada to the United States court of appeals.
Kennedy was quoted as saying, "Passing this wage hike represents a small, but necessary, step to help lift America's working poor out of the ditches of poverty, and onto the road toward economic prosperity".
[53] In the 1970s, Kennedy joined with fellow senators Ernest Hollings and Henry M. Jackson in a press conference, to oppose President Gerald Ford's request that Congress end Richard Nixon's price controls on domestic oil, which had helped to cause the gasoline lines during the 1973 Oil Crisis.
