{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=4F406400-C44A-4D56-934B-E03BA728C528", "Majority Leader McConnell on the Retirement of Harry Reid", "2016-12-08", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks today on the Senate floor on the retirement of his long-time colleague Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada:\r\n\u201cIt seems that any speech about the Democratic Leader requires a mention of Searchlight, Nevada.\r\n\u201cThere\u2019s a reason why that is.\r\n\u201cYou can\u2019t begin to understand the man until you understand where it all began. \u201cAnd here\u2019s where it began.\r\n\u201cA tiny mining town at the southern tip of Nevada. One teacher. Zero indoor plumbing. Miles of desert. That\u2019s Searchlight \u2014 at least the Searchlight Harry Reid knew when he was growing up.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s the kind of place where you might learn to drive at 13, or spend your summer roping cattle with a cowboy named Sharky. In fact, if your name is Harry Reid, that\u2019s exactly what you did. \u201cHarry grew up in a tiny wooden shack with a tin roof. Hitchhiked more than 40 miles to school. Had a father who toiled in the hard-rock mines.\r\n\u201cIt goes without saying that this was not an easy life. It taught some tough lessons. But Harry had his escapes.\r\n\u201cHe found one in the snap and crackle of his radio. Now, Searchlight didn\u2019t actually have a radio station of its own, but every now and then Harry could pick up a faint signal from California. And during the regular season, it carried his favorite baseball team \u2014 the Indians.\r\n\u201cHe can still rattle off Cleveland\u2019s 1948 roster. Just ask him.\r\n\u201cHarry played some baseball himself. He was the catcher in high school. And, during his sophomore year, Harry\u2019s team was crowned Nevada State Champions. Later \u2014 after a close game on the California coast \u2014 his team won the Nevada-Arizona-California tri-state playoffs too. \u201cHarry still treasures the big white jackets each member of the team received.\r\n\u201cNot because he was the best player on the team \u2014 Harry says he wasn\u2019t \u2014 but because of what that jacket represented: His hard work, his contributions, his worth.\r\n\u201cHarry, like many young men, once dreamed of a life in the majors, of cheering crowds and Commissioners Trophies. \u201cSo did I.\r\n\u201cI wanted to throw fastballs for the Dodgers.\r\n\u201cHarry wanted to play center field at Fenway.\r\n\u201cWe wound up as managers of two unruly franchises instead.\r\n\u201cAs the leaders of our parties, we\u2019re charged with picking the batting order, controlling the pitch selection, and trying our best to manage 100 opening-day starters.\r\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t always easy.\r\n\u201cBaseball, as Harry has often pointed out, provides a nice reprieve from the serious work of the Senate. So, no matter how contentious the issue before us, we try to put politics aside \u2014 at least briefly \u2014 to trade our views on the Nats and Bryce Harper. \u201cHarry is probably looking forward to having even more time to dedicate as a fan of the sport and never having to miss another game because of votes.\r\n\u201cBut if there\u2019s one thing that Harry loves more than baseball, it\u2019s his wife Landra and the family they\u2019ve built together.\r\n\u201cWhen Harry Reid first met Landra Gould, the two of them were in high school \u2014 and Harry was hardly conflicted about his feelings for her. \u2018She looked like she belonged in the movies,\u2019 he recalled, \u2018She was smart [too]. And she\u2019d been places. Out of my league, that\u2019s for sure.\u2019\r\n\u201cBut if there\u2019s one thing we know about Harry, he doesn\u2019t give up easily.\r\n\u201cWasn\u2019t long before the two of them were heading off on their first date. It started as many dates do, with a movie, and ended as no dates do: with Landra push-starting his car. \u201cNow, Harry worried \u2014 as many of us might \u2014 that this could well be their first date and their last date. But then he looked over at Landra. She smiled as she pushed alongside him. It was the kind of smile that said, \u2018who cares about the car, I\u2019m with you.\u2019 It\u2019s a smile that\u2019s stayed with him ever since.\r\n\u201c\u2019There are moments,\u2019 Harry said, \u2018that turn a life\u2026 that stay with you until the last breath, [and] this was one of those moments for me.\u2019\r\n\u201cThe Reids have never been strangers to pushing through challenges.\r\n\u201cThey\u2019ve confronted a lot over nearly six decades of marriage.\r\n\u201cBut hand-in-hand, sweat on the brow, they\u2019ve always moved forward \u2014 together.\r\n\u201cThrough it all, Landra has never stopped smiling, and Harry has never stopped counting every lucky star for Landra.\r\n\u201cHis idea of the perfect night out is still a quiet night in, with her.\r\n\u201cLandra\u2019s his confidante, his high school sweetheart, his best friend.\r\n\u201cShe\u2019s his everything.\r\n\u201cAnd, for a guy who grew up with nothing, that\u2019s something.\r\n\u201cHarry Reid didn\u2019t have an easy childhood. He faced tragedy from a young age. There were times when he just wanted to leave Searchlight and never look back.\r\n\u201cBut these experiences helped shape him too.\r\n\u201cThis is a guy who\u2019s seen it all. He\u2019s been on the wrong side of electoral nailbiters. He\u2019s been on the other side of them too. He even won a primary against someone named \u2018God Almighty.\u2019\r\n\u201cHarry will now retire as the longest serving U.S. Senator from his state, with some three decades of Senate service behind him.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s clear that Harry and I have two very different worldviews, two different ways of doing things, and two different sets of legislative priorities. \u201cBut, through the years, we\u2019ve come to understand some things about one another, and we\u2019ve endeavored to keep our disagreements professional, rather than personal.\r\n\u201cWe\u2019ve also found some common ground through baseball.\r\n\u201cI hardly know what it\u2019s like to serve here without Harry \u2014 he came into office just a couple short years after I did \u2014 but I do know this.\r\n\u201cCome next month, you\u2019ll know where to find him.\r\n\u201cRight next to Landra.\r\n\u201cWriting new chapters.\r\n\u201cMaking new memories.\r\n\u201cContinuing a love story that began, with a smile, more than 50 years ago.\r\n\u201cToday the Senate recognizes the Democratic Leader for his many years of service to Nevada, to the country, and to his party.\r\n\u201cWe wish him and Landra the best as they set off on their next journey.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=4F406400-C44A-4D56-934B-E03BA728C528"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0972099844366312, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}