The death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy reminds us of the important roles that he and President John F. Kennedy played in the enactment of the Wilderness Act of 1964.
The proposed Wilderness Act had been before Congress for four years when President Kennedy took office in January 1961, but had made little progress. Having endorsed the bill during his campaign, President Kennedy made it a top conservation priority of his Administration. With that impetus, the bill passed the Senate in September 1961. However, when the House of Representatives failed to act, the bill died at the end of the 87th Congress in 1962.
The Senate passed the Wilderness Act again promptly in the new Congress, in April 1963 -- with the newly-elected Senator Edward M. Kennedy adding his vote to the overwhelming bipartisan support. And, after personal lobbying by President Kennedy right up to the week before his death, it also passed the House of Representatives, to be signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964.
As we think of the many contributions Senator Kennedy and his family have made to our nation, we honor his vote that helped put in motion the program of wilderness protection that continues strongly to this day.
With the death of Senator Kennedy, only two senators are still serving who were there to support the Wilderness Act four decades ago -- Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii -- and just one member of the House, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan.
"We have lost one of the truly great Americans who championed truly American ideals," said Mike Matz, executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness. "While it is hard on the nation to lose such a magnanimous patriot, it's even harder on his family, and our thoughts of condolence from deep in our hearts go out to them as they mourn his passing. Ted Kennedy was a great man. It's difficult to believe he's gone."
"We know the future will outlast all of us," Sen. Kennedy said last December, "but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make." Nothing could be more true.
The cause does endure, the hope will live on, and his dreams for a better America should never die.
