Dodd proposes re-naming caucus room after Kennedy

One of Ted Kennedy's closest colleagues urged the Senate today to rename a historic room on Capitol Hill after the late Massachusetts Democrat.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said he will introduce legislation to name the Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building after the late lion of the Senate.

The Caucus Room has a number of historical connections to Kennedy. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (Committee), which Kennedy chairs, finished their markup of healthcare reform there. It's also where JFK and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced their presidential campaigns.

"[I]t is there I propose we affix the Kennedy name, not just as a monument to the things that the three Senators Kennedy have done, but to the spirit of compassion and compromise, fierce advocacy and tender friendship, that Teddy embodied perhaps more than any other Senator of our time," Dodd said today on the Senate floor.

Dodd will introduce legislation later today with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to rename the room the "Kennedy Caucus Room."

"May the Kennedy Caucus Room stand as a monument to three brothers who devoted their considerable talent and energy to serving the country that they loved, and that loved them back," Dodd said.