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Locals pay tribute to Kennedy

Tim Leeds Havre Daily News [email protected]

Hill County Democrat Frank Hayes said the country will miss the work done for decades by U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. “As far as I was concerned, he was one of the most true-blue Americans I was acquainted with,” Hayes said this morning. Kennedy died Tuesday after nearly a year of battling brain cancer. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962, and served for nearly 50 years. State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, said he met Kennedy several times on trips to Washington, D.C. “His presence just kind of it's magnetic,” Windy Boy said. “You didn't want to let that go.” Former state Rep. John Musgrove of Havre, chair of the Hill County Democratic Party, said the work done by Kennedy will be missed. “Even in his illness he was a great statesman,” Musgrove said. He commented that in his long tenure only two other senators had served longer than Kennedy in the history of the United States he always stayed true to his two top priorities. “He represented his state well, but he also represented the nation, and he always tried for bipartisan support to make things Happen,” Musgrove said. “Of all of his traits I think his bipartisanship is the most important.” Hayes, who met Kennedy in the mid-1960s he met the senator while providing security at weekly children's events, circuses, put on by Robert Kennedy said Edward Kennedy was a true icon in politics. “We're going to miss him quite a bit,” Hayes said. “He told it like it was, he didn't pull any punches and that's my kind of politician. Sometimes it was hard for him to be alone on issues, but he did what he thought was right.” Windy Boy said Kennedy will be missed by Indian Country and the rest of the country for his work on issues like education and health care. He said he remembered his mother crying when President John Kennedy was assassinated at that time he didn't realize what impact a single man could have, Windy Boy said. Now he knows how much Edward Kennedy meant to the citizens of the country also, he said. “Now knowing how much impact he had on issues like education and health care, I know he truly will be missed,” Windy Boy said.

 

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