Biden Emotional Kennedy Tribute: 'We Lost a Truly Remarkable Man'

Teddy spent a lifetime working for a fair and more just America.  And for 36 years, I had the privilege of going to work every day and literally, not figuratively sitting next to him, and being witness to history.  Every single day the Senate was in session, I sat with him on the Senate floor in the same aisle.  I sat with him on the Judiciary Committee next -- physically next to him.  And I sat with him in the caucuses.  And it was in that process, every day I was with him -- and this is going to sound strange -- but he restored my sense of idealism and my faith in the possibilities of what this country could do.

You know, he changed the circumstances of tens of millions of Americans -- in the literal sense, literally -- literally changed the circumstances.  He changed also another aspect of it as I observed about him -- he changed not only the physical circumstance, he changed how they looked at themselves and how they looked at one another.  That's a remarkable, remarkable contribution for any man or woman to make.  And for the hundreds, if not thousands, of us who got to know him personally, he actually -- how can I say it -- he altered our lives as well.

Well, today we lost a truly remarkable man.  To paraphrase Shakespeare:  I don't think we shall ever see his like again.  I think the legacy he left is not just in the landmark legislation he passed, but in how he helped people look at themselves and look at one another.