Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski meeting with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)Tuesday at his Chicago office. (photo courtesy Embassy of Poland)

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) returned to his office Tuesday for the first time since his stroke in January to meet with Poland's President, Bronislaw Komorowski. Chicago has the largest population of residents with Polish roots outside of Warsaw, and Komorowski had an active schedule before and after the Chicago NATO Summit--also meeting with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) on Tuesday. Poland's president gave Kirk a "Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland," the same honor he handed to Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday to mark the Illinois National Guard partnership with the Polish army in Afghanistan and Iraq. Kirk, Emanuel when he was a House member and Kirk have all backed measures to make allow Polish citizens into the U.S. without a visa.