speaker of the united states house of representatives. good morning. madame vice president, distinguished congressional leaders, and our special guests, the family of harry reid. today as speaker of the house, it is my solemn and official honor to welcome back to the united states capitol a legendary leader of great integrity, a pioneer and patriot, and our dear friend, harry mason reid. on behalf of the congress, i extend a special welcome to his loving wife, his rock, landra with whom he shared a beautiful love and happiness. their happiness was a source of joy to all of us who loved them.
ladies and gentlemen, the honorable charles e schumer, majority leader of the united states senate. good morning. it is such an honor to speak today about my dear friend and mentor, harry reid of searchlight, nevada, as he would proudly refer to himself. let me first say to harry s family and particularly to landra, the love of harry s life for 62 years who he called his rock, the only time i ever saw harry cry was when he told me landra had an awful car accident and had broken so many bones. he said over and over again, as
he lowered his voice. he said chuck, i want to take care of something very important, he said. and he pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket, and he peeled off $400. he had been working hard and doing the right things to become leader, he said, but you need to dress the part. go buy some better shoes, for goodness sakes. later on, i asked why he pulled me into the bathroom for that conversation. his answer? so he couldn t embarrass me in front of landra. that was harry reid to a t. if you were lucky enough to be someone harry cared about and called his friend, he cared with you in every fiber in his being. and his generosity extended beyond things sartorial. a few years ago he called up my wife and said i ve sent you and chuck a special gift. it s the greatest thing. you re going to love it.
declaration. it is a dare. harry would be the first to admit that he wasn t the biggest, the loudest, or the strongest. but he was tough and relentless. he conquered the impossible. and he made the world a better place. harry reid made the world a better place. history will remember him as one of the most consequential senate majority leaders of all time. but those of us fortunate enough to know him and love him will remember also his character and compassion, his goodness. his goodness. to his many loved ones, thank you for sharing harry reid for the country and with the congress. may it be a comfort to you, landra, to your beloved children and grandchildren, and great grandchild, and the great state
tiers streamed down his cheeks, my poor little landra, my poor little landra. the couple months ago i lost my father, abe. but i still feel his spirit is with me every single day. just as i know that harry is still with you, landra, and your family, and with all of us today and for many of us forever more. to celebrate the life of harry reid under the dome of the capitol is to partake in an exercise of contradictions. on the one hand, anyone who knew harry could count on a few things. he rarely said good-bye on the phone. and it almost became a ritual in the first three months of any new session that each freshman would call me up and say why is harry mad at me? i said no, no, i didn t even have to they didn t have to explain why. he doesn t say good-bye, just hung up. he s not mad at you. and certainly harry would have