Late Sen. Harry Reid to lie in state in US Capitol Rotunda

Updated: Jan 2, 2022 / 09:41 PM CST

FILE – Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks to reporters in the Capitol after winning election by his Democratic peers as the new Senate minority leader, on Nov. 16, 2004, in Washington. Reid, the former Senate majority leader and Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress, has died. He was 82. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The late Sen. Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who served as majority leader during a 30-year career in the Senate, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda next week.

The leaders of Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said in a statement Sunday night that ceremonies honoring Reid at the Capitol will take place Jan. 12.

Events will include a formal arrival and departure ceremony. Details were to be announced later. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was being limited to invited guests only.

“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,” Schumer said. Pelosi said it was her “solemn honor” to pay tribute to “a legendary leader, a great American and my dear friend.”

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.

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