Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair and Democratic Party icon Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) died on Tuesday at age 77 from brain cancer, Roll Call reports. Kennedy, who called health care reform "the cause of my life," had been unable to oversee reform efforts in Congress because of his health, leading some to wonder if overhaul attempts would have progressed more smoothly if he had been able to more actively shepherd reform legislation (Pierce, Roll Call, 8/26).

Kennedy's skill at deal making was legendary. President Obama said, "For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts."

Some of his key successes include the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also worked to improve abortion clinic access and family and medical leave, and helped establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Johnson, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/26).

Kennedy also was a longtime supporter of Medicare and Medicaid. He was a member of the Senate when both programs were created in 1965 (Roll Call, 8/26).

Last week, Kennedy urged Massachusetts state lawmakers to change the process for determining a successor in the event of a vacancy. Kennedy asked that the appointee offer an "explicit, personal commitment" not to run for the seat in the special election. He asked that the process be changed to allow Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to appoint an interim replacement. Current Massachusetts law requires a special election for the open seat no sooner than 145 days after its vacancy and no later than 160 days. The law also bans an interim appointee (Broder, New York Times, 8/27).

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