In his speech last night, President Obama quoted a letter from Ted Kennedy, written last spring but delivered to the president after Kennedy’s death which said that health care is “above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.”

Kennedy also wrote “While I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will–yes, we will–fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.”

You can read the well-written and poignant letter in its entirety by clicking here.