Harry Reid to Lie in State in Capitol Rotunda

WASHINGTON — Former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who capped a 30-year career in the Senate by rising to majority leader, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda next week.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the honor for Reid in a joint statement released Sunday. Reid will lie in state on Wednesday, Jan. 12.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance at the ceremony will be limited to invited guests only.

Reid, 82, died last Tuesday at his home in Henderson, Nevada, after battling pancreatic cancer. A memorial service was planned for Saturday in Las Vegas.

“Harry Reid will be remembered as a great American, father, husband, Senate leader and one of history’s most devoted fighters for the people of Nevada and the poor and middle class throughout the country,” Schumer said in a written statement.  

“He was tough-as-nails strong, but caring and compassionate, and always went out of his way quietly to help people who needed help,” Schumer said. “Harry never forgot where he came from, and I will miss my dear friend and mentor greatly.  Few dedicated their life and career to working for and delivering for working families like Harry Reid, and it will be an honor to pay tribute to him in the Capitol next week.”

Pelosi hailed Reid as a “titan of public service” who “fought relentlessly for working families like his own.”

“One of the most commanding and consequential Senate majority leaders in history, he forged extraordinary legislative progress: rescuing our economy during the Great Recession, protecting hardworking families with Wall Street reforms and moving our nation closer to our goal of universal health coverage,” she said. “It is my solemn honor as House speaker to pay tribute to a legendary leader, a great American and my dear friend, Sen. Harry Reid.”

Beginning with his election to the U.S. House in 1982, Reid served in Congress longer than anyone in Nevada history. He retired from the Senate in 2016.

Reid will lie in state almost exactly one month after former Kansas Republican Sen. Bob Dole was similarly honored. As happened in Dole’s case, events at the Capitol to honor Reid will include a formal arrival and departure ceremony.

Additional details will be announced later, Schumer and Pelosi said.

Last week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, paid tribute to Reid by noting the events that brought the Nevadan to the upper chamber of Congress “was nothing short of amazing.”

“His life’s journey began in a house that lacked running water,” McConnell said. “It took him all the way from amateur boxing and a stint with the U.S. Capitol Police to eventually becoming one of the most senior leaders whom that force protected. You could hardly invent a more quintessentially American story, and it took Harry’s legendary toughness, bluntness, and tenacity to make it happen.

“The nature of Harry’s and my jobs brought us into frequent and sometimes intense conflict over politics and policy. But I never doubted that Harry was always doing what he earnestly, deeply felt was right for Nevada and our country,” the Republican leader said. “He will rightly go down in history as a crucial, pivotal figure in the development and history of his beloved home state.

“When Harry retired from the Senate, we both celebrated the fact that our many differences had never really gotten personal. Harry’s and my paths in the Senate were roughly parallel. We seemed to reach each institutional milestone within just a few years of each other. I truly appreciated the sincere and cordial relationship we shared behind the scenes when passions cooled,” McConnell said.

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