Former U.S. Senator Dole to lie in state in U.S. Capitol Rotunda Thursday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The remains of former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who died on Sunday, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Thursday to honor the World War Two war hero and 1996 Republican presidential nominee.

"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," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Dole, known as a pragmatic conservative willing to engage with opposition Democrats, died at age 98 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-us-senator-presidential-candidate-bob-dole-dies-age-98-statement-2021-12-05. He had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

U.S. presidents, judges, military leaders and other officials have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda since 1852. Such tributes in recent years have gone to former President George H.W. Bush, former Senator John McCain and most recently Representative John Lewis, a civil rights icon.

While past tributes have been open to the public, only invited guests will be allowed to attend the ceremony for Dole because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pelosi and Schumer said.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Will Dunham)