Byrd: Rename Health Care Bill

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has called for the health care bill to be renamed in honor of late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). The bill should bear Kennedy's name "for his commitment to insuring the health of every American," said Byrd, the only senator to have served longer than Kennedy. "I had hoped and prayed that this day would never come," Byrd said in a statement. "My heart and soul weeps at the loss of my best friend in the Senate, my beloved friend, Ted Kennedy." Byrd had wept when his younger colleague fell ill with brain cancer last year and was similarly emotional during his statement on Wednesday. "God bless his wife Vicki, his family, and the institution that he served so ably, which will never be the same without his voice of eloquence and reason," Byrd said. "And God bless you, Ted. I love you and will miss you terribly."