Kennedy To Return To Senate In January

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Senate Democrats will have to face a crucial three-week session before the November elections without Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who is battling brain cancer and will return to the Capitol 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," spokesman Anthony Coley told the Washington Post. "Senator Kennedy's doctors are pleased with his progress so far, and have recommended that he continue to work from home through the fall."

Kennedy, the second most senior member of the Senate, underwent brain surgery on June 2 after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The diagnosis was made after he suffered two seizures in May while at home in Hyannis Port.

The 76-year-old lawmaker, whose first appearance since his surgery during a Senate vote on a controversial Medicare bill in July prompted a standing ovation from Senate colleagues, has been going daily to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatments.

He stole the show during the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver last month with a speech that recalled his 1980 landmark convention address. "The work begins anew, the hope rises again and the dream lives on," Kennedy said. He also pledged to be on the Senate floor next January, saying "we have never lost our belief that we are all called to a better country and a newer world."