Reid tells press he has ‘done more for diversity in the U.S. Senate than all the rest of people put together.’

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) held a nationally televised press conference to address his 2008 remarks that Barack Obama was “light-skinned” and possessed “no Negro dialect.” During the briefing, Reid admitted that he “could have used a better choice of words.” He also discussed his civil rights record and noted all the support he has received from civil rights leaders and government officials, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who reportedly said that Reid has “done more for diversity in the U.S. Senate than all the rest of people put together”:

REID: As a very young man in the state of Nevada, I was one of the leaders of the civil rights movement in Nevada. I had a lot of moving to do. Gov. O’Callaghan — he and I worked hard to work out the consent decree to allow integration of the gaming community in Nevada. Moving forward, I’m very aware of the fact that the first African-American to serve on the federal court in the state of Nevada was because of direct work I did, recommending Johnny Rawlins to President Clinton. The first diversity program in —

I got a call last night — it was late, I was surprised he was up this late — from Secretary Salazar, and he said, “Harry, you make sure you tell everybody that you have done more for diversity in the United States Senate than all the rest of people put together.”

Watch it:

In the 110th Congress (2007-2008), Reid scored a 90 percent on the NAACP’s federal civil rights legislative report card; thirty five senators scored higher than he did. In the 106th Congress Reid scored a 100 percent.

Transcript:

REID: I really appreciate people writing nice things about me. There’s a wonderful editorial in the LA Times today, a number of things on the Huffington Post — nice things there. But I am very proud of the fact that I can still remember the meeting that took place in my office with Sen. Barack Obama, telling him I think he can be elected president. And I’m sure there were others, but he was kind of surprised that the Democratic Leader was calling this new senator over to suggest that he could be elected president.

My conversations with the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, Jim Clyburn from South Carolina, has been like the calls I got today. I got a call from Merv Dymally. He and I were lieutenant governors together. Merv Dymally and I served in Congress together. So I feel good about people reaching out to me. I’ve apologized to the President, I’ve apologized to everyone that [with] the sound of my voice, I could have used a better choice of words, and I’ll continue to do my work with the African-American community.

As a very young man in the state of Nevada, I was one of the leaders of the civil rights movement in Nevada. I had a lot of moving to do. Gov. O’Callaghan — he and I worked hard to work out the consent decree to allow integration of the gaming community in Nevada. Moving forward, I’m very aware of the fact that the first African-American to serve on the federal court in the state of Nevada was because of direct work I did, recommending Johnny Rawlins to President Clinton. The first diversity program in —

I got a call last night — it was late, I was surprised he was up this late — from Secretary Salazar, and he said, “Harry, you make sure you tell everybody that you have done more for diversity in the United States Senate than all the rest of people put together.” So, that’s where we are. I’m going to move forward and go get health care done in the next couple of weeks.