Kennedy Out of Senate Until January

The office of Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) announced yesterday that the Democratic stalwart, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in May, will not be in the Senate in the fall session that began yesterday and will not return until the 111th Congress convenes in January.

“As Senator Kennedy said two weeks ago in Denver, he intends to be on the floor of the United States Senate next January when we begin to write the next great chapter of American progress,” said Kennedy spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner.

Kennedy, who has had surgery and six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, had planned on returning to the Senate this week but changed his mind when advised by his doctors to stay out until January.

I cover the Senate and watch it on a daily basis and it's sad that so many working people in America have no real idea how Kennedy -- who has been a Senator for 36 years -- is in the trenches fighting hard every single day on issues like minimum wage, workplace fairness and health care.

Have a look at one of my favorite Kennedy moments, when he ripped his Republican colleagues last year for stonewalling for a decade on raising the minimum wage:



Ted Kennedy is truly the "Liberal Lion" of the Senate and represents the heart and soul of the Democratic party. We need his vote and we need his powerful voice.

Let's all hope for a full recover and a speedy return to service.