Reid explains move in taking ceremonial pen from Obama

WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid said he was on the hunt for a souvenir when he reached for a ceremonial pen President Barack Obama had just used to sign documents after his second-term inauguration Monday.

"I wanted to take a pen home to my wife," Reid, the Senate majority leader from Nevada, said Tuesday when he was asked what he was thinking during the ceremony in the U.S. Capitol.

House and Senate leaders were positioned around a table where Obama used several pens to sign documents delivering his latest Cabinet nominations to the Senate, including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., for secretary of state and former Sen. Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense.

As the gathering was breaking up, Reid reached over and was caught with a pen in hand. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., motioned for him to put it down and ribbed Reid when the flurry caught Obama's attention.

"Is Harry stealing the pens?" Obama chuckled. "I can get you one, man."

Obama pulled a pen from his pocket and handed it to Reid.

"This is a nice one," Obama told Reid, "and it's yours."

Despite taking grief from Schumer and Obama, Reid said Tuesday his move paid off.

"I got one," he said of the Obama gift pen. "I got a real one, out of his pocket."

The president customarily employs an array of ceremonial pens to sign important legislation and documents, and they sometimes are given as mementos or thank-you gifts.

Obama used 22 pens to sign the Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010. Reid was given one of those, which he gave in turn to Kate Leone, his senior health counsel who helped write the legislation.