McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is a step closer to being named after former Nevada Senator Harry Reid.
The Clark County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, February 16 unanimously voted to rename the airport after the former Democratic senator who held office from 1987 to 2017.
“It is with humility that I express my appreciation for the recognition today,” Reid, who also served as Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015, said in a statement. “I would like to express my deep gratitude to Commissioner Segerblom, the entire Clark County Commission, and the many others who have played a part in this renaming.”
The airport is currently named after the late Pat McCarran who represented Nevada in the U.S. Senate from 1933 until 1954, but left behind a legacy as a racist and anti-Semite.
The renaming request will now go to the Federal Aviation Administration, and commissioners said private contributions would cover costs associated if approved.
“I want to address one of the concerns that has been raised about how this will be paid for. Let me be clear, no taxpayer money will be used for this effort. All expenses associated with re-naming with be paid for with 100% private donations…This also isn’t partisan,” Commissioner Tick Segerblom said, adding that prominent Republicans like Sands CEO Sig Rogich and Miriam Adelson back the plan.
Gov. Steve Sisolak also welcomed the move, saying, Reid “spent his life and his career lifting up Nevada to what it has become today.”
“His is a story of a man worth honoring by renaming the airport in the city and state to which he has given so much,” the governor added.
The rebranding would cost around $2 million, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
The airport’s three-letter FAA identifier, LAS, will not change. (AJPress)
Yeah, and he played the ultimate politician by blocking the Nevada Test Site from being the PROPER nuclear waste repository when it is NO DOUBT the best site for it in the US. We still have nuclear reactors storing their waste in the middle of big cities all over the US where they are in much more exposed to terrorists and other dangers.
Have you ever tried to break in there, there was just a recent fatality from someone that didn’t heed the warnings, already a huge area set aside with all the security, AND using it for that would be worth thousands of jobs for Nevadans PLUS BILLIOMS in other perks to Nevada’s economy.
Just another politician to me.