Sen. Chris Coons Monday remembered late Sen. John McCain as a leader who took him and other colleagues, regardless of their political party, under his wing, and said he'd be honored to vote to rename the Russell Senate Office Building to remember him.
"I think it's a deserved honor," the Delaware Democrat told CNN's "New Day." "He loved not just the Senate but, actually the building that we have our offices in."
Coons said McCain was not the kind of person to seek such visible recognition, but it would be appropriate. However, he also thinks another way to honor McCain would be to make national service possible, whether civilian or military, for America's young people.
"Sen. McCain and I talked about this a number of times, how he thought we should make a post high school two-year period of national service and expectation for young Americans," said Coons.
Coons also recalled his own personal connection with McCain, saying that he initially found speaking with the late senator intimidating, but "he was a incredibly kind personally."
The senator added that he will always remember spending four days with McCain in Hanoi, Vietnam, when their group visited the prison where the senator had been held as prisoner of war, and about a meeting held later with Vietnamese leaders.
"It was clear just the admiration and near reverence that the Vietnamese people held him in because of how hard he had worked to bridge that and reconcile the United States to Vietnam," said Coons. That's one of the biggest lasting legacies of Sen. McCain, he never stopped trying to find ways to work with people, even if they had been opponents."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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