Kennedy Breaks His Silence, Makes Statement on Murders

Decades after the assassinations that shocked the nation, U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-Mass.) yesterday made his most complete and thoughtful statement yet about the murders of his uncle and father during a speech at Harvard Law School.

"No attempt has been made to accept or reject how my uncle and father were killed," Kennedy told a crowd of about 120 in Austin Hall. "I am not going to spend my life pursuing every allegation and lead as others may choose to do."

It is one of the few times the representative has replied to questions regarding the assassinations of his father and uncle. Last June, on the anniversary of his father's death, he refused to answer questions about the murder.

A man in the back of the lecture hall prompted the statement when he denounced Kennedy for not pursuing the conspiracy theories on the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy '48 and John F. Kennedy '40. As the crowd heckled the man, the representativerequested he not be ejected and proceeded toanswer his question.

Kennedy also spoke about the need for collegestudents to get more involved with the politicalprocess. He said America "vitally needs youngpeople to care about the direction this country istaking."

The prepared speech delivered by Kennedy, whois running for re-election year, touched onviolent crime, civic responsibility and youngpeople's disregard for public service.

Using statistics, Kennedy painted a picture ofwhat he called the declining quality of living foryoung people in America.

Twenty-six percent of children under six yearsold are growing up in poverty, 40 percent of womenbecome pregnant under the age of 20, and gunshotwounds are the leading cause of death among menand women under 19, according to Kennedy.

The representative also criticized some of hiscolleagues on Capitol Hill for supporting specialinterests at the expense of their constituents.

Citing the current lobbying over health care asan example, Kennedy said that if politicians thinkthey can get away with voting for a specialinterest, they will.

"Because the [health care] industry is sooverwhelmed, the balance of power has shifted tothe 'titans' (insurance companies, doctors'groups) of the health care industry," Kennedysaid.

Kennedy blamed apathy among college studentsfor the political intransigence. He warned thatunless students take action, they will continue toget representatives who "parrot back" onlyfavorable news while the country sinks deeper intodebt.

Because of his concern about the growingnational debt, Kennedy said he supports a balancedbudget amendment.

"My generation is in power in Washington today,spending your money, and you haven't evengraduated yet," Kennedy said. "By the time we'redone, you all are going to have little choice inhow you are going to spend it because almost allof it will go to health care, social security,defense and interest on the debt."

During the question-and-answer session, aHarvard senior who said she volunteers as astudent teacher at Brighton High School presenteda letter from her ninth-grade class asking Kennedyto write to them about violence in schools.

Brian O'Connor '78, spokesperson for Kennedy'sBoston office, said the representative will visitthe class later this year to personally addressthe concerns of her class

Kennedy also spoke about the need for collegestudents to get more involved with the politicalprocess. He said America "vitally needs youngpeople to care about the direction this country istaking."

The prepared speech delivered by Kennedy, whois running for re-election year, touched onviolent crime, civic responsibility and youngpeople's disregard for public service.

Using statistics, Kennedy painted a picture ofwhat he called the declining quality of living foryoung people in America.

Twenty-six percent of children under six yearsold are growing up in poverty, 40 percent of womenbecome pregnant under the age of 20, and gunshotwounds are the leading cause of death among menand women under 19, according to Kennedy.

The representative also criticized some of hiscolleagues on Capitol Hill for supporting specialinterests at the expense of their constituents.

Citing the current lobbying over health care asan example, Kennedy said that if politicians thinkthey can get away with voting for a specialinterest, they will.

"Because the [health care] industry is sooverwhelmed, the balance of power has shifted tothe 'titans' (insurance companies, doctors'groups) of the health care industry," Kennedysaid.

Kennedy blamed apathy among college studentsfor the political intransigence. He warned thatunless students take action, they will continue toget representatives who "parrot back" onlyfavorable news while the country sinks deeper intodebt.

Because of his concern about the growingnational debt, Kennedy said he supports a balancedbudget amendment.

"My generation is in power in Washington today,spending your money, and you haven't evengraduated yet," Kennedy said. "By the time we'redone, you all are going to have little choice inhow you are going to spend it because almost allof it will go to health care, social security,defense and interest on the debt."

During the question-and-answer session, aHarvard senior who said she volunteers as astudent teacher at Brighton High School presenteda letter from her ninth-grade class asking Kennedyto write to them about violence in schools.

Brian O'Connor '78, spokesperson for Kennedy'sBoston office, said the representative will visitthe class later this year to personally addressthe concerns of her class