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INSIGHTi
Members of the House of Representatives
Lying in State in the U.S. Capitol
July 27, 2020
On July 27 and 28, 2020, Representative John Lewis, who died on July 17, wil lie in state at the U.S.
Capitol. In a joint press release, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnel announced that Representative Lewis would lie in state both in the Capitol Rotunda—for a
private viewing by Members of Congress—and at the top of the East Front Steps of the U.S. Capitol—for
a public viewing. Because of COVID-19, social distancing and masks are required to enter the viewing
line and the Lewis family requests that “members of the public do not travel to Washington, D.C. from
across the country to pay their respects at the U.S. Capitol given the COVD-19 pandemic.” Members of
Congress are encouraged to “use extreme care and deliberation when deciding to travel to Washington,
D.C.” Members of the public and of Congress are encouraged to pay their respects virtual y by posting
tributes using specific hashtags.
There have been 33 individuals (not including Representative
Lying in State v. Honor
Lewis) who have lain in state or honor in the Capitol
Lying in State
Rotunda. The most recent individual to lie in state was
Current or former government officials (e.g.,
Representative Elijah Cummings on October 24, 2019. The
Member of Congress, President, Vice
most recent individual to lie in honor was the Reverend Bil y
President); military leaders; unknown
Graham on February 28 and March 1, 2018. Prior to
servicemembers from World War I, World
War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era.
Representative Lewis lying in state, a total of 15 individuals
who had been a Member of the House of Representatives had

received that honor (see Table 1).
Lying in Honor

Private Citizens
Figure 1 shows Representative Thaddeus Stevens, the first

Representative who did not also serve in another
governmental position, lying in state from August 13 to 14,
1868.
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Figure 1. Lying in State of Representative Thaddeus Stevens
August 13-14, 1868

Source: U.S. Congress, Architect of the Capitol, “Funeral of Thaddeus Stevens in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda,” Lying in State
or Honor, at https://www.aoc.gov/nations-stage/lying-state-honor.
Since President Abraham Lincoln’s death in 1865, the caskets of most individuals who have lain in state
or honor have rested on the Lincoln catafalque. The Lincoln catafalque is a platform constructed in 1865
“to support the casket of Abraham Lincoln while the president’s body lay in state in the U.S. Capitol
Rotunda.”
Authorization Process
The U.S. Capitol Rotunda is jointly controlled by the House of Representatives and the Senate. As a
shared space, the use of the Rotunda often involves a concurrent resolution, agreed to by both the House
and Senate, to authorize an individual lying in state or honor. For example, two concurrent resolutions
(S.Con.Res. 43—use of the Lincoln Catafalque; and S.Con.Res. 44—use of the Rotunda) were agreed to
authorizing Senator John McCain lying in state in 2018.
In some cases, however, the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate jointly agree to
al ow an individual to lie in state. In recent years, this has occurred in two instances when Congress was
not in session: in December 2006, for President Gerald Ford, and in October 2019, for Representative
Cummings.

link to page 3 Congressional Research Service
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For more information on the use of the Capitol Rotunda, see CRS Report RL34619, Use of the Capitol
Rotunda, Capitol Grounds, and Emancipation Hall: Concurrent Resolutions, 101st to 115th Congresses,
by Jacob R. Straus.
When an individual lies in state or honor in the Rotunda, the Architect of the Capitol and the U.S. Capitol
Police may issue special instructions about public access to the Capitol, public viewing hours, and other
protocols. The House Sergeant at Arms issued instructions for Representative Lewis’s viewing on July 24,
2020.
Representatives Lying in State
To date, 15 former Members of the House of Representatives have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda,
not including Representative Lewis. Henry Clay, who also served as a Senator and Secretary of State, was
the first former Representative to lie in state (July 1, 1852). The most recent former Representative to lie
in state, prior to Representative Lewis, was Representative Cummings.
Representative Lewis is the third former Member of the House to lie in state who did not also serve in
another governmental position. Representative Thaddeus Stevens was the first when he laid in state
August 13-14, 1868, and Representative Cummings was the second when he laid in state on October 24,
2019. Table 1 lists the Representatives who have lain in state, the date of their death, the date of lying in
state, and any other positions they held in addition to being a Member of the House of Representatives.
Table 1. Representatives Who Have Lain in State
(not al individuals were sitting Representatives at the time of their death)
Representative
Date of Death
Date of Lying in State
Other Positions
Henry Clay (Kentucky)
June 29, 1852
July 1, 1852
Speaker of the House,
Senator, Secretary of State
Abraham Lincoln (Il inois)
April 15, 1865
April 19-21, 1865
President
Thaddeus Stevens
August 11, 1868
August 13-14, 1868
—
(Pennsylvania)
James Garfield (Ohio)
September 19, 1881
September 21-23, 1881
President
John Logan (Il inois)
December 26, 1886
December 30-31, 1886
Senator
Wil iam McKinley (Ohio)
September 14, 1901
September 17, 1901
President, Governor
John F. Kennedy
November 22, 1963
November 24-25, 1963
Senator, President
(Massachusetts)
Everett Dirksen (Il inois)
September 7, 1969
September 9-10, 1969
Senator
Lyndon Baines Johnson
January 22, 1973
January 24-25, 1973
Senator, Vice President,
(Texas)
President
Claude Pepper (Florida)
May 30, 1989
June 1-2, 1989
Senator
Gerald Ford (Michigan)
December 26, 2006
December 30, 2006-Janaury
Vice President, President
2, 2007
Daniel Inouye (Hawai )
December 17, 2012
December 20, 2012
Senator
John McCain (Arizona)
August 25, 2018
August 31, 2018
Senator
George H. W. Bush (Texas)
November 30, 2018
December 3-5, 2018
Vice President, President

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Elijah Cummings (Maryland)
October 17, 2019
October 24, 2019
—
Source: Compiled by CRS from U.S. Congress, Architect of the Capitol, “Those Who Have Lain in State or in Honor in
the Rotunda,” October 2018, at https://www.aoc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/basic-page/us-capitol-lain-state-honor-
2019-01.pdf; and U.S. Congress, House, Office of the Historian, “Individuals Who Have Lain in State or in Honor,” at
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Lie-In-State/Lie-In-State.



Author Information

Jacob R. Straus

Specialist on the Congress




Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
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