Schumer — Democratic leader — wants to rename Senate building after John McCain

Christal Hayes | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption John McCain will be buried at Naval Academy Cemetery John McCain chose the United States Naval Academy Cemetery as the place he will lay rest. He'll lie next to his former classmate and lifelong best friend.

WASHINGTON — To honor the late Sen. John McCain and his legacy, the Arizona Republican might have a Senate office building in the nation's capital named after him.

Top Democrat Chuck Schumer said Saturday evening he would introduce a resolution renaming the Senate's Russell office building after McCain, a reach across the aisle to remember the respected Republican lawmaker and Vietnam War veteran.

The building sits on the outskirts of the U.S. Capitol and houses McCain's office.

"As you go through life, you meet few truly great people," Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said in a statement shortly after McCain's passing. "John McCain was one of them. His dedication to his country and the military were unsurpassed, and maybe most of all, he was a truth teller - never afraid to speak truth to power in an era where that has become all too rare."

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He added that the world would be a lesser place without McCain and while nothing can bring him back, he wanted the nation to forever remember him.

"Nothing will overcome the loss of Senator McCain, but so that generations remember him I will be introducing a resolution to rename the Russell building after him," Schumer said.

Richard Russell was a segregationist senator from Georgia. The building was renamed from the Old Senate Office Building to honor Russell in 1972.

Russell was a Democrat who served from 1933 to 1971. He was known as a "senator’s senator" and chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee.

A statue of Russell also stands in the building's rotunda.

There have been various efforts over the years to rename the building, but the bipartisan support to honor McCain could lead to a success.