Senate pauses to remember Ted Kennedy

With solemn words and bittersweet memories, the Senate paused Thursday to pay tribute to Sen. Edward M. KennedySen. Edward M. Kennedy, a passionate champion of health care reform during his nearly five decades in Congress.

"The impact he etched into our history will long endure," Senate Democratic Leader Harry ReidHarry Reid of Nevada said in remarks prepared for delivery. "The liberal lion's mighty roar may now fall on deaf ears, but his dream shall never die."

Lawmakers were offering remembrances of the Massachusetts Democrat, who saw expanding health coverage as the cause of his life.

The tributes come the day after President Barack ObamaBarack Obama' s speech urging Congress to deliver a sweeping health care overhaul. Obama invoked Kennedy's legacy, citing a letter Kennedy wrote to the president before his death, calling health care "above all a moral issue."

Kennedy's Massachusetts colleague, Sen. John KerryJohn Kerry, cited Kennedy's long fight for universal health care.

"For three decades, including his last days, he labored with all his might to make health care a right for all Americans," Kerry said in prepared remarks.

Kerry said senators would miss his booming voice and his big heart.

"On many occasions, he was the indispensable man," Kerry said. "On every occasion, in this chamber and out, he was a man whose heart was as big as heaven, whose optimism could overwhelm any doubts and whose joy for life was wonderfully contagious."

Kennedy died Aug. 25 at 77, succumbing to brain cancer after a 15-month fight. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his slain brothers, John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy and Robert KennedyRobert Kennedy.