Former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole remembered Jack Kemp Sunday.

Speaking with her husband Bob at a lecture at the University of Kansas, Dole told a crowd of between 500 and 1,000 students that the former Congressman was full of energy and enthusiasm when he helped her campaign in North Carolina.

"Jack believed in what he was doing with all his heart," she said, according to the Topeka Capital Journal. "He will be truly missed."

Kemp, a former Congressman who was Bob Dole's vice presidential pick, died of cancer Saturday. In October, he campaigned on a bus tour for Elizabeth Dole's re-election with Sen. Richard Burr in five mountain counties.

She also said she was disappointed with Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties and with the recent tone in Washington.

"In recent years, it's become much more raucous," she said, according to KTKA TV. "You feel like it's almost combat now. I do think we have to work hard at getting that civility back."

Dole added that she and her husband also plan to go on the NutriSystem diet plan.

Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr had little to say about colleague Arlen Specter’s defection today to the Democratic party.

"I am disappointed in Senator Specter's decision today, but it was a personal decision and I will leave it to him to explain to the voters of Pennsylvania," Burr said in a written statement.

Burr's reaction was less harsh than that of some other Republicans, who accused Specter of political opportunism.

Both Burr and Specter, of Pennsylvania, are among the senators up for re-election in 2010, and both were being targeted by Democrats, Barb Barrett reports.

Specter, of course, will now run for re-election as a Democrat.

The House Judiciary Committee plans to take up U.S. Rep. Brad Miller’s bankruptcy bill as soon as this week.

Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, and Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez of California co-sponsored the legislation, which aims to keep about 600,000 homeowners from losing homes purchased under sub-prime lending rates, reports Barb Barrett.

In the Senate, Democrat Richard Durbin of Illinois and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania each have bankruptcy bills as well. Miller said Friday his House version is a good compromise between their ideas.

“I’m thinking of sliding my bill between them,” he said.