美国参议员爱德华.肯尼迪因脑癌去世，终年77岁。他是已故总统约翰.肯尼迪最小的弟弟，也是美国历史上最具影响力的议员之一。爱德华.肯尼迪的家人说，他星期二晚些时候在麻萨诸塞州小镇海恩尼斯港的家中去世。这位民主党参议员一年多以前被诊断患有无法治愈的脑癌。他的家人发表声明，形容爱德华.肯尼迪是“我们家庭不可取代的中心人物，是我们眼中令人愉快的光亮”。
肯尼迪将被安葬在阿灵顿国家公墓，那里安葬着他的两个哥哥，前总统约翰.肯尼迪和前参议员罗伯特.肯尼迪。爱德华.肯尼迪今年大部分时间都无法在参议院工作，只能在海恩尼斯港的家中推动他毕生最具代表性的议题─全国医疗保健系统。自从1962年获选接替他的哥哥、美国总统约翰.肯尼迪在参议院的席位后，爱德华.肯尼迪就一直在美国参议院代表麻萨诸塞州。在他的参议员生涯中，他一直是大力推动自由派议题的领头人，议题包括民权、教育、移民和医疗。
在2008年总统大选中得到爱德华.肯尼迪支持的奥巴马总统最近授予他总统自由勋章。肯尼迪没有出席在白宫举行的授勋仪式。
U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, one of the longest-serving and most influential lawmakers in U.S. history, has died at the age of 77. He was the youngest brother of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy.Kennedy’s family says he died late Tuesday at his home in the small Massachusetts coastal town of Hyannis Port. The Democratic senator had been suffering from an incurable form of brain cancer for a little more than a year.In a statement, the family described him as “the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives.”
He is to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting spot of his brothers former President Kennedy and former Senator Robert Kennedy.Ted Kennedy had been missing in the U.S. Senate for much of this year due to his illness, forcing him to work on his lifelong signature issue, a national health care system, from his Hyannis Port home.He represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 1962, when he was elected to the seat previously held by President Kennedy. During his Senate career, he was a strong champion of liberal causes, including civil rights, education and immigration, in addition to health care. He often worked with Republicans to get legislation passed.
President Barack Obama, whom Kennedy endorsed during the 2008 presidential campaign, awarded the ailing senator the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month. Kennedy was not present at the White House ceremony.