Reid recalls his hardscrabble upbringing

Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday during his farewell speech that he did at least one thing right in his life: he bought his mother some teeth.

The story comes from his time growing up in the small mining town of Searchlight, where Reid regaled the Senate in stories about his life coming from poverty – unable to see a doctor after a false positive tuberculosis test, unable to see a dentist, one teacher for all eight grades – and how it shaped his outlook on life.

But one story stuck out, especially to him, about buying his mother a pair of dentures.

“It changed my mother’s life. My mother had teeth,” Reid said.

Reid’s time in the Senate will come to an end on Friday when Congress is expected to wrap up business. He will have served 34 years in Congress – 30 of them in the Senate and 12 of them as a party leader.

Those years came with lots of stories about Reid's rise, his accomplishments, and the friends he’s made over the years.

Unlike his usual pointed self on the floor, Reid was more jovial, at times appearing to hold back tears.

But it wasn’t just reminiscing. Reid gave praise to the changes in diversity in the Senate, but said there was still a lot more to do.

“When I came as Democratic senator, there was one woman: Barbara Mikulski,” he said. “I’m very happy now that we have 17 Democratic women and we have four Republican women. I just want to make the record clear, the Senate is a better place because of women being here. There is no question.”

He also gave some parting advice, calling for preserving the Senate filibuster, getting money out of politics and the importance of the press.

Reid warned his Democratic colleagues not to overuse the filibuster, or it could be eliminated.

He warned that not getting big money out of politics would have an impact.

“If this doesn’t change, if we don’t do something about this vast money coming into our elections, in a couple more election cycles, we’re going to be like Russia. We’re going to have a plutocracy,” he said.

Lastly, Reid said the press had to keep doing its job, especially as the proliferation of false news becomes a growing issue.

“But be vigilant because you have as much to do with our democracy as any branch of government,” Reid said.