[T]he three members of Vermont’s delegation joined the outpouring of messages from across the political spectrum heralding Sen. John McCain’s life and career after news of his death Saturday.
The Arizona Republican died age 81 after a months-long battle with brain cancer.
McCain’s death prompted an avalanche of remembrances from Republicans and Democrats on the senator’s two-decade long Navy career and 35 years in Congress.
McCain was a leader in the Republican Party, claiming the party mantle during the 2008 election when he ran against Barack Obama for the presidency. But he also maintained his reputation as a “maverick,” willing to break with party ranks — which he did in a high-profile way last year when his “no” vote scuttled the Senate GOP leadership’s effort to repeal Obamacare.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who has called McCain a longtime friend in the Capitol, said in a statement Saturday he was reflecting on the last time he and his wife Marcelle saw the senator.
“We both were hopeful that it would not be the last time,” Leahy said.
Leahy said McCain was willing to defend “the Senate’s special and independent role in American government.”
“In the Navy and in his public service, his goal was not to bide time, but to make a difference,” Leahy said. “I know that he felt, as I do, that the Senate can rise to the occasion in difficult moments to become the nation’s conscience. We must never allow an erosion of the Senate’s ability to do that.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also remembered McCain as “a man of decency and honor” and “a friend of mine.”
McCain will be missed “by all Americans who respect integrity and independence,” Sanders said in a post on Twitter.
John McCain was an American hero, a man of decency and honor and a friend of mine. He will be missed not just in the U.S. Senate but by all Americans who respect integrity and independence. Jane and I send our deepest condolences to his family.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 26, 2018
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said in a statement that McCain “defined public service, honor, and love of country.”
“What an extraordinary career he had. What a loss his passing is for Arizona and America. Godspeed, Senator. You will be sorely missed,” he said.
Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that McCain will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, a rare honor that has been given to only a dozen former senators since the tradition began in 1852, according to the Architect of the Capitol.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to offer a resolution to rename one of the Senate’s three office buildings after McCain.
