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Mark Kirk Returning To Senate For Start Of New Session

Mark Kirk Returning To Senate On Thursday
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Washington Bureau Chief, HuffPost

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FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2010 file photo, Illinois Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mark Kirk laughs during the annual Coumbus Day parade in Chicago. Nearly a year after a stroke left him barely able to move the left side of his body, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is expected to climb the 45 steps to the Senate's front door this week _ a walk that is significant not just for Illinois' junior senator, but also for medical researchers and hundreds of thousands of stroke patients. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

WASHINGTON -- Nearly a year after suffering a major stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) will be returning to the Senate on Thursday for the opening of the 113th session of Congress.

Kirk is scheduled to arrive at the Capitol at 11:30 a.m., where he will be greeted by some of his fellow senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). According to CNN, Vice President Joe Biden also plans to greet Kirk when he arrives.

He will later hold a press conference with doctors and researchers from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, who will discuss the treatment he underwent.

Climbing the stairs of the Capitol will be no small feat for Kirk, who was largely paralyzed on his left side after the stroke. In November, the senator climbed 37 flights in Chicago's Willis Tower.

Kirk has not cast a vote since suffering the stroke last January. He briefly returned to his Senate office on Dec. 20 to meet with his staff.

In a Chicago Sun-Times interview published Wednesday, Kirk said he would support an assault weapons ban when he returns to work.

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Before You Go

Mark Kirk In Recovery From Stroke
(01 of09)
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In this series of three photos taken from video released Tuesday, May 8, 2012 by Sen. Mark Kirk's office, Kirk performs various walking exercises at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago following a stroke he suffered in January 2012. In the video, Kirk gives his first public remarks since suffering the stroke. On May 3, Senator Kirk was released from the RIC and moved home with his family. (AP Photo/Courtesy Sen. Mark Kirk's office) (credit:AP)
(02 of09)
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This image taken from video and provided by Sen. Mark Kirk's office shows Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. going through a walking exercise at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago following a stroke he suffered in January 2012. In the video, Kirk gives his first public remarks since suffering the stroke. On May 3, Kirk was released from the RIC and moved home with his family. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Sen. Mark Kirk's office) (credit:AP)
(03 of09)
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This image taken from video and provided by Sen. Mark Kirk's office shows Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. going through a walking exercise at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago following a stroke he suffered in January 2012. In the video, Kirk gives his first public remarks since suffering the stroke. On May 3, Kirk was released from the RIC and moved home with his family. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Sen. Mark Kirk's office) (credit:AP)
(04 of09)
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This image taken from video and provided by Sen. Mark Kirk's office shows Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. making his first remarks since suffering a stroke in January 2012 on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. Kirk says he can't wait to get back to work and is walking again. On May 3, Kirk was released from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and moved home with his family. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Sen. Mark Kirk's office) (credit:AP)
(05 of09)
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FILE - In this April 19, 2012 file photo provided by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., talks with staff members at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, in the first public image of Kirk since he suffered a stroke in January 2012. On Thursday, May 3, 2012, Kirk's office released a statement saying the 52-year-old senator has been released from the rehabilitation center and recovered to the point where he can move home with his family. (AP Photo/Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, File) (credit:AP)
(06 of09)
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Dr. Richard Fessler, a neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital updates the media on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's condition since suffering a stroke over the weekend, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, in Chicago. Fessler says the Illinois Republican has some facial paralysis and speaks with a slight slur, but is answering questions and is very aware of his surroundings. The doctor says Kirk appears eager to get back to work and has asked for his Blackberry. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (credit:AP)
(07 of09)
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FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 photo, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. leaves a Republican caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington. When a stroke hits at 52, like what happened to Sen. Kirk, the reaction is an astonished, "But he's so young." The reality is that strokes can happen at any age, even to children - and they're on the rise among the young and middle-aged. The vast majority of strokes do occur in older adults. But up to a quarter of them strike people younger than 65, says Dr. Ralph Sacco, a University of Miami neurologist and past president of the American Heart Association. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (credit:AP)
(08 of09)
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Dr. Richard Fessler, a neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who performed surgery on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. after he suffered a stroke, arrives to answer questions about the Senator's conditions at a news conference, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Chicago. Kirk, 52, checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital over the weekend before being transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where tests showed he had suffered a stroke. Kirk's office said he had a tear in the carotid artery on the right side of his neck. Carotid arteries carry blood to the brain; carotid tears are a common cause of strokes, which can involve blood clots traveling to the brain and causing bleeding there. The surgery was performed Sunday night. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (credit:AP)
(09 of09)
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In this Nov. 1, 2010 photo, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., looks to a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally in Wheaton, Ill. A spokesperson for Sen. Mark Kirk says the Illinois Republican has suffered a stroke and has undergone surgery early Monday, Jan. 23 2012 to relieve swelling around his brain. The 51-year-old Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital in Illinois. He was later transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where tests showed that he had suffered a stroke. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File) (credit:AP)
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