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Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Congressional leaders on Monday announced that former U.S. senator and Republican presidential and vice presidential candidate, Bob Dole, will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda Thursday. Dole, who represented Kansas in the Senate for 27 years including 11 as the Republican leader, died in his sleep early Sunday at the age of 98.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a joint statement Monday announcing he would be honored in a ceremony at the Capitol Thursday.
"Senator Dole was an extraordinary patriot, who devoted his entire life to serving our nation with dignity and integrity," Pelosi said. "Putting his life on the line to defend our nation, he was awarded two Purple Hearts for his valor and sacrifice on the battlefield -- and when he came home, served as an inspiration to millions of Americans living with disabilities."
Schumer said he admired Dole's "steadfast advocacy for veterans and for Americans with disabilities" as well as his "love for his country."
"Senator Dole exemplified the Greatest Generation and while I never had the pleasure of serving in the Senate with him, his reputation and his achievements and most of all his character preceded him," Schumer said.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., added that Congressional leaders look forward to honoring Dole's "life and legacy" at the Capitol.
"Whatever their politics, anyone who saw Bob Dole in action had to admire his character and his profound patriotism," McConnell said. "Those of us who were lucky to know Bob well ourselves admired him even more. A bright light of patriotic good cheer burned all the way from Bob's teenage combat heroics through his whole career in Washington and through the years since."
President Joe Biden on Sunday also ordered that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on Thursday, describing Dole as "a statesman like few in our history and a war hero among the greatest to fo the Greatest Generation."
