PHOENIX – A bipartisan coalition of Congress members from Arizona wants to rename the Tucson Federal Building after Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who died earlier this year.
Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego introduced a resolution to christen the complex at 300 W. Congress St. as the Raúl M. Grijalva Federal Building.
“Congressman Grijalva was a giant not just in southern Arizona politics, but as a voice for equality across the country,” Gallego said in a press release Thursday. “He inspired generations of Latinos, including me, to serve and showed everyone what it means to lead with heart, principle, and humility.
“Renaming the Tucson Federal Building in his honor is a fitting tribute to his decades of public service and his lifelong commitment to the people of southern Arizona.”
Republicans join Democrats in effort to honor Raúl Grijalva
Democratic Reps. Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari were joined by Republican Reps. Juan Ciscomani and Paul Gosar on companion legislation in the House.
The Tucson Federal Building houses offices for a variety of agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, Small Business Administration, Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor.
Grijalva, a Democrat, served southern Arizona in Congress for over 20 years until he died in March at age 77 from complications with his cancer treatment.
“He left a legacy of making sure everyone had a voice in Washington,” Kelly said in the release. “Renaming this federal building in his hometown is a fitting tribute to that extraordinary legacy and to the generations of Arizonans he inspired.”
On Tuesday, Grijalva’s daughter Adelita Grijalva won the Democratic primary for the late congressman’s seat in District 7, a Democratic stronghold. She is favored to defeat GOP nominee Daniel Butierez in the Sept. 23 general election.
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