Senate, House propose resolution to rename NATO building after McCain

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema were among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who introduced a resolution supporting a proposal to rename NATO Headquarters after late Sen. John McCain.

The Hill reported Thursday that each chamber strongly supported the resolution.

McCain, who was a staunch advocate of bipartisanship, died Aug. 25 after a yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was days shy of his 82nd birthday.

“John McCain dedicated his life to the defense of freedom,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said in a statement. Gallagher sponsored House Resolution 1053.

Sinema was one of nine House cosponsors and the only Arizonan to do so. Three other Democrats also supported the effort.

Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sponsored Senate Resolution 622. Flake was one of 13 cosponsors, seven of them Democrats.

The Senate resolution read in part:

Whereas former NATO Secretaries General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Lord George Robertson, and Javier Solana have urged NATO to rename its new headquarters after Senator McCain, writing that “few things symbolise this alliance, and the enduring benefits of American global leadership, more vividly than the life and work of John McCain…”

Last week, CNBC reported NATO said it would consider renaming the new billion-dollar office complex in Brussels after McCain, based on a proposal from British Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat.

The resolution was sent to each chamber’s foreign relations committee.

A recent attempt to rename the Senate building after McCain slowed after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced he would form a group to look at several options to honor McCain.

The Phoenix City Council voted in December to rename Terminal 3 at Sky Harbor International Airport after the former Navy combat pilot.

Related

Arizona Sen. John McCain has died of brain cancer at the age of 81Read Sen. John McCain's farewell messageThousands brave Phoenix heat to pay respects to late Sen. John McCainPhoenix council votes to rename Sky Harbor terminal for John McCainGrand Canyon’s North Rim to transition to modified operations for fallAdrian Fontes, Alex Kolodin trade insults, split over mail-in voting in secretary of state debate