Byrd To Lie In State In Senate Chamber The late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) will lie in repose today in the Senate, the chamber where he served for over 50 years. The Associated Press highlights the rarity and significance of the event in modern times: “It is fairly common for people of national import to lie in state or in honor in the Rotunda, the great hall in the center of the Capitol. Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford were honored in the Rotunda in 2004 and early 2007, and civil rights leader Rosa Parks in 2005. But while 45 people, including 19th-century Senate greats such as John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay and Charles Sumner, were commemorated on the Senate floor after their deaths, the last to lie in repose in the Senate was William Langer of North Dakota in 1959.”
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=124482