ST. PAUL, Minn. — Lawmakers scattered across the country for the August recess took time at their scheduled town halls and other public meetings Wednesday to remember Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) legacy.

Before convening a health care roundtable in St. Paul, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) took a minute to pay tribute to the Massachusetts Democrat, who died late Tuesday at the age of 77.

“He was a man who fought for kids and for the disabled and for the poor and the sick and the disadvantaged,— Franken said. Health care reform “was the cause of his lifetime.—

Kennedy’s passing, Franken said, “just makes me more determined to get it done.—