Sen. Edward Kennedy Back At Work In Senate

A surprise on Capitol Hill in Washington yesterday, as Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy returned to take part in the lame-duck session of Congress. WBUR's Steve Brown has more.

Senate staffers greeted the ailing senator with an enthusiastic round of applause. Other than a brief stop back in July to cast a vote on a Medicare bill, it's the first time Kennedy has been back at work since he took ill in May. Kennedy said he's feeling fine, and looking forward to working on health care reform.

KENNEDY: I'm very hopeful that this will be a prime item on the agenda. The president.... uh, Barack has indicated that this would be a prime issue, and I believe that it will be.

Kennedy had planned to return to the Senate when the new session convenes in January.