Posted on 06/28/2010 1:05:11 PM PDT by Second Amendment First
Sen. Robert Byrd may join Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy among historic figures who have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda — an honor only bestowed upon 28 other Americans over the past 160 years.
Senate leaders are likely to make a request for Byrd to lie in state, aides said Monday, but they are still awaiting approval from Byrd’s family to go ahead with a formal resolution that would allow Byrd’s casket to rest under the dome for a public viewing.
With a career that spanned nearly 58 years and ranked him as the longest-serving member in congressional history, Byrd has likely earned the consideration.
In 2006, Gerald Ford was the most recent political figure to lie in state in the Capitol, and he was preceded by Ronald Reagan, whose casket was visited by thousands over three days in June 2004. The caskets are draped with an American flag, and rest upon the same wooden catafalque — a raised platform — constructed for Lincoln’s state funeral.
Presidents James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson and were also honored in the political hallowed space.
In 1865, Henry Clay was the first to be honored in the Rotunda after serving five consecutive terms in the House, including service as Speaker.
Other big names bestowed the state honor include Spanish-American War hero George Dewey and architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant.
Three non-political figures have lain in honor, which is different from laying in state: civil rights activist Rosa Parks and the U.S. Capitol Police officers, Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson, who were killed during an attack on the Capitol in 1998.
Typically, a concurrent resolution from both the Senate and the House must be passed granting permission for the Rotunda space to be used, but the process is usually given top priority, according to the Office of the House Historian.
Less than four days after Reagan died on June 5, 2004, both the Senate and House cleared a resolution, and the President was already lying in state.
The House is expected to introduce a separate resolution honoring Byrd’s service in Congress and flags at both the Capitol and White House flew at half mast today.
In the past, Congress has sometimes granted the honor without issuing a resolution, with authority being granted solely by the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader. The option is usually used when Congress is out of session or unavailable to vote on the use of the rotunda.
Nevertheless, may God bring comfort, peace and His true enlightenment to Mr. Byrd's loved ones.
Wasn’t Reid who says the tourist stink up the capitol? Now in July it will be the rotting corpse of the late KKK Byrd.
I wonder if they’ll bury him in his best pressed whites.
Then, how about a marker in the shape of a cross that bursts into flames every night?
Man... what a picture!
BYRD get the hood & robe pressed...BYRD.Sheesh
Which one? West Virginia?
That would be disgusting and very un-American. Why politicians, who do all in their power to destroy America, are honored and eulogized is beyond any intelligent reasoning.
YAWN!!
NEW: Robert Byrd signature Whipping Post
Get yours today!
pssssssst, it was Strom Thurmond, not Jesse Helms
The Grand Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd to lie in State
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Hey, let the insults rip if it make you feel better!
"I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side... Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."
He was a shell of himself for a while I hear.
I don’t want to insult his family with bad things to say, but the man was more a problem for me than anything as a politician.
RIP and all that, but he wasn’t a great anything IMO except for maybe as a member of the KKK.
likely because they're scared to death of Obama and Michelle...The original whitey haters.
HELL NO!!!!
It’s bad enough that the Grand Wizard of the KKK was sitting in the senate telling ME how to live MY life, but absolutely no way, no way, no way!
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