WASHINGTON — The late Sen. John McCain’s name could soon be a fixture on Capitol Hill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said over the weekend he plans to introduce a Senate resolution to rename the Russell Senate Office Building along Constitution Avenue for McCain.
“The Senate, the United States, and the world are lesser places without John McCain,” Schumer said. “Nothing will overcome the loss of Senator McCain, but so that generations remember him I will be introducing a resolution.”
McCain, who faced down his captors in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp with jut-jawed defiance and later turned his rebellious streak into a 35-year political career that took him to Congress and the Republican presidential nomination, died Saturday after battling brain cancer for more than a year.
He was 81.
“As you go through life, you meet few truly great people. John McCain was one of them,” Schumer said. “His dedication to his country and the military were unsurpassed.”
Proposals to rename the Russell Senate Office Building have been floated on Capitol Hill several times over the years.
The building is currently named for Richard Russell, a Democratic senator from Georgia who was a well-known segregationist and a strong supporter of Southern opposition to the civil rights movement.
McCain’s fellow Senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, said he supports Schumer’s plan.
“I want to be the first Republican co-sponsor for that resolution,” Flake told CBS’ Face the Nation.
“There are many other things that we need to, do but that’s a good one. John McCain had his office just right near mine in the Russell building. I think that that’s a fitting tribute.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
