The late Sen. Harry Reid believed in the “moral obligation” of government to help its citizens, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said while paying tribute to the late Democratic senator from Nevada.
“Harry never forgot where he came from, nor did he forget the people, his childhood friends and neighbors who, just like Harry early on, struggled to get by,” Schumer said at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda where Reid’s body will lie in state on Wednesday, Jan. 12. “In Harry’s view, The government had a moral obligation to see to it that these people had every opportunity to secure a better life for themselves and their families.”
Schumer said Reid spoke softly, but his words “carried the force of thunder” and was compassionate, yet had a habit of hanging up the phone abruptly, rather than saying goodbye–leading many colleagues to think that Reid was angry with them. “He didn’t text, he didn’t mail. and as you know, whenever he would call you, he would hang up the phone so quickly you would think he was allergic to telecommunications,” said Schumer.
“What Harry was allergic to was the artifice of politics, that he considered a distraction from his true passion. getting good things done in this Capitol.”
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