N.Y. officials pay tribute to McCain
Area officials are mourning the passing of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and reflecting on his life.
Additionally, New York is honoring Sen. John McCain by lowering flags on government buildings to half-staff.
The 81-year-old McCain died Saturday in Arizona after discontinuing medical treatment for an aggressive form of brain cancer.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, DN.Y., said McCain’s “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. The Senate, the United States, and the world are lesser places without John McCain.”
Schumer said he will introduce a resolution to rename the Russell Building in McCain’s honor. In 1972, it was named for former Senator Richard Russell Jr., a leader of Southern opposition to civil rights.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, DN.Y., posted on Twitter, “We will never forget the unparalleled courage, heart and service of John McCain. My thoughts are with his family as they mourn this great loss, but also as they celebrate his incredible life. It was a privilege to serve beside John in the Senate, and he will be so greatly missed.”
U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, said McCain was “an American patriot, dedicated to our constitution and the ideals it represents.” Faso said “his courage as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton will be long remembered. America has lost a dedicated and loyal son.”
U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, said McCain will be remembered as “one of the most
committed public servants in American history.” Maloney said McCain “personified all
of the best characteristics of what it is to be an American and a good representative of the people. He was “a tough, thoughtful, principled patriot who spent his entire life serving others.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a
Democrat, said McCain “gave his life in service to this nation, exemplifying all that we admire in a hero.” The governor said he was “a warrior and a statesman, in the old-fashioned sense.”
Cuomo said Sunday lowering
the flags on state buildings was a “small gesture for one of America’s giants.” New York City is doing the same at city-government buildings.
Cuomo, a Democrat, said the tribute to McCain, a Republican,
would remain until his funeral.
McCain is expected to be honored in Arizona and Washington before being buried, likely this coming week, at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis,
Maryland.
Cuomo called McCain “one of our nation’s finest public servants” and an example of an old-fashioned statesman who “indisputably aimed to put country over party.”