Politics

Reid: Send That McCarran Statue ‘Out To Pasture’ Too

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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In the midst of the Confederate flag dispute, Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle are calling for the removal of their own home state’s figures from two different public places.

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday that it is time for his home state of Kentucky to remove the statue of Confederacy President Jefferson Davis from the state capitol in Fort Worth.

Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid, however called for the removal of one of the statues representing his state of Nevada — the statue of Democratic Sen. Patrick McCarran that stands in the U.S. capitol among other figures representing their states.

“I think he should be put out to pasture some place — the statue. I think he doesn’t represent the things our country stands for and certainly not what Nevada stands for. The statues are really important. They send a message,” Reid said.

McCarran served in the upper chamber from 1933 to 1954 and was known as a steadfast anti-communist. This is not the first time Reid called to erase McCarran’s name from Nevada’s history.

In 2012, he stated that the major airport hub in Las Vegas should no longer be named for McCarran, the main sponsor and author of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 as well as main advocate of the state’s casino and mining interests, The Las Vegas Review Journal notes.

“Pat McCarran was one of the most anti-Semitic — some of you might know my wife’s Jewish — one of the most anti-black, one of the most prejudiced people who has ever served in the Senate,” Reid said. “It’s not a decision I’m going to make, but if you ask me to give my opinion, I don’t think his name should be on anything.”

Reid also believes Congress should review other states with statues with histories that others may deem offensive.

“The problem we have with most of the statues in the capitol complex is that there’s a law that says, as I understand it, it says each state is entitled to two statues and two statues only and so that’s really up to the states,” he told reporters in response to whether or not state statues associated with the Confederacy should remain in the capitol.

He continued, “Now I think it would be really important to look at some of the statues that are here not as a result of what the states have done but what others do and we’re going to take a look at that. I think it’s we need to make sure the states understand what they have.”