Conrad on Kennedy: He’s being missed

As the Senate moves toward a vote on health care reform, Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad on Tuesday paused to lament the continuing absence of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has devoted much of his 47-year Senate career to the issue.

“There’s no way to define the difference that he would make,” Conrad said of Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer. “He’s a lion, and nobody has spent more time, more of his career, on health care than Sen. Kennedy. But we all understand. We’ve got an obligation to move forward.”

Kennedy is on the cover of this week’s “Newsweek” magazine and contributed an essay entitled “We’re Almost There” about the health care reform debate.

–J. Taylor Rushing