Phoenix council votes to rename Sky Harbor terminal for John McCain

PHOENIX — The city council voted Wednesday to officially rename Terminal 3 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

The measure was passed by a unanimous vote during a special session of the council. It was the only vote held.

In a statement, McCain said he was “deeply humbled” by the decision and thanked Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and the city council for “this privilege.”

“I have rarely felt at once so honored and yet so unworthy of an honor as I do today,” McCain said.

“The great honor of my life has been to serve the people of Arizona in the United States Congress and I will strive every day to prove worthy of that honor,” he continued.

McCain’s wife, Cindy, thanked the city in a tweet.

Thank you @MayorStanton and Phoenix City Council for the honor you have bestowed on @SenJohnMcCain

— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) December 20, 2017

The matter was brought to the council in late November by Mayor Greg Stanton.

“Sen. McCain has given so much of himself to our country, to Arizona and to Phoenix,” Stanton said in a statement at the time.

“Giving something back to an American hero, a former naval aviator, and a 30-year member of the U.S. Senate is the least we can do.”

A $590 million remodel of Terminal 3 was expected to be completed by 2020.

Another facility at Sky Harbor, Terminal 4, was named years ago after a prominent Republican lawmaker.

“It’s perfectly fitting that our busiest terminals at Sky Harbor would be named for two of Arizona’s best-known aviators and most impactful public servants – Sen. Barry Goldwater and Sen. John McCain,” Stanton said.

McCain — who flew fighter jets in Vietnam before being shot down, held as a prisoner of war and tortured for more than five years — has been elected to the Senate five times.

The senator was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, over the summer. At least two tumors have been found in his brain.

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