Reid: 'Infirm' Bob Dole hospitalized at Walter Reed

By Justin Sink - 11/27/12 06:47 PM ET

Former Republican presidential nominee and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) has been hospitalized for at Walter Reid Hospital, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday.

"He is at Walter Reed not for a checkup," Reid said on the Senate floor. "He is there because he is infirm. He is sick."

Reid said Dole had called him a few days prior, and the the Democratic Leader urged the passage of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in his honor.

"We should do this to recognize what a great leader Bob Dole is," Reid said.

The top Senate Democrat added he saw the former Republican leader as "a stalwart figure in the history of America."

"He had all the qualities of a leader that I admire and certainly would wish I had," Reid said.

Dole, who was the 1996 Republican presidential nominee and the 1976 vice presidential nominee, has been plagued by a leg infection for years and spent more than three years in the hospital after being wounded during World War II.

But in a statement to CBS News, an assistant for Dole said he had been hospitalized for a "routine" procedure.

"He checked himself in for a routine procedure and will discharge tomorrow," Dole's assistant said. "Doing well and watching the CRPD debate on CSPAN 2."

The former Republican leader served on the panel convened by former President George W. Bush to investigate problems at the Army medical center after substandard conditions were revealed in a Washington Post investigation in 2007.

Reid was not the only senator to invoke Dole while arguing in favor of the CRPD, an international treaty that seeks to ensure rights for the disabled. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) read a letter from Dole urging the treaty's passage, and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told his colleagues "we need to pass this treaty as a tribute to Bob Dole." Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) also cited Dole's letter in advocating for the bill.

Dole penned an editorial advocating the CRPD for The Hill earlier this year.

Ramsey Cox contributed to the reporting of this article.