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5 months ago
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Northern Virginia Democrats slammed a new House GOP proposal to rename the Washington-area Dulles International Airport after former President Donald Trump.
At issue is a brief two-page proposal, introduced by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) on March 29 with half a dozen additional GOP co-sponsors, that would rename the facility the "Donald J. Trump International Airport."
"Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges. If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison," Fairfax-area Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a statement to POLITICO.
He was hardly alone in the criticism. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), whose district includes Dulles, called the legislation "just another in a long list of instances" where House Republicans demonstrate "how unserious and delusional they are."
"Let's get to work on the real issues the American people sent us here for, not renaming an airport after someone who sought to undermine our democracy," the retiring congresswoman said in a statement to POLITICO.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) recalled the day Trump enacted his executive order barring entry to individuals from certain majority-Muslim countries in 2017 — and that lawmakers went to Dulles to press for legal representation for detainees.
"I also remember Republicans like those who just introduced legislation to rename that airport after Trump hiding and giving mealy mouthed responses when asked about the chaos and suffering Trump’s bigotry caused," he said in a statement. "They know our airport will never be named after Trump, but that’s not the point — the point is to suck up to their Dear Leader."
Asked if he had any response to the legislation, an aide to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) replied: "lol."
The airport, the closest with international flights to the Capitol, is currently named for influential former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, but is routinely derided by area travelers over its customer experience.
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