Nevada’s senators appeared together Wednesday afternoon to promote hand-washing and proper hygiene.  

Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and GOP Sen. Dean Heller teamed up at an event for Clean the World, a group that recycles unused soap from hotel rooms and provides it to those in need both around the world and in the United States.  

Of course, guests at Nevada’s resorts and casinos use no shortage of those miniature bottles of shampoo and bars of soap. Reid said there are 125,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas. Backers of the event in the Capitol’s Lyndon B. Johnson room included Las Vegas Sands Corp., founded by well-known GOP donor Sheldon Adelson.  

“I’m happy to be here with Sen. Heller,” Reid said. “We’re partners in what we do back here. We may not agree on everything, but we agree on most everything. And we certainly agree on what’s happening here.”  

Heller recalled being told as a child by his parents to sing “Happy Birthday” while washing his hands, noting that he had wondered while on the road what happened to those little bars of soap.  

“It’s amazing how such a small thing can make such a big difference,” Heller said.  

The Senate event launched a broader campaign to assemble more than 50,000 hygiene kits, with soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste and similar products.  

“The fact is, simply washing your hands can cut down the transmission of flu, for example, by 50 percent,” Reid said. “If you wash with water, it’s better than nothing, but it’s not as good as if you have soap.”  

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