Senate remembers Kennedy

The Senate wasted no time on Tuesday commemorating the loss of perhaps its most storied member, observing a moment of silence at 2 p.m. in honor of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) convened the Senate after a month- long break, during which Kennedy died on Aug. 25 after a 15-month-long battle with brain cancer. Reid said the break was a time of "passion and profound sadness," referring to Kennedy's death as well as sometimes-boisterous town hall debates on health reform.

During the moment of silence, a group of tourists in the upper gallery remained quiet, as did reporters, Senate staffers, aides and attendants. The only other senator in the chamber, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), stood silently as well, head bowed and hands clasped.

As is Senate custom, Kennedy's desk at the rear of the chamber was covered in black cloth, a vase of white flowers and a copy of his favorite poem, Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."