Senator Edward Kennedy, the “Lion of the Senate,” was a stalwart champion for ending extreme poverty in the poorest parts of the world. He lent his powerful voice for human rights, for an end to child poverty, and for freedom. From Bangladesh to South Africa to Ireland, Sen. Kennedy’s fingerprints remain on the movement against global poverty, and the world is better off for it. Most recently, he signed onto the reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a bill that authorized $48 billion over the next 5 years to improve global health for the world’s poorest people. He is already missed.

Senator Paul Kirk, a longtime Kennedy aid and friend, is temporarily filling the late senator’s seat. Sen. Kirk recently cosponsored the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act (S. 624), bringing the total number of cosponsors of that bill to 25. We thank him for his support, and look forward to working with him in the fight against extreme poverty.

-Arjun Mody