Source::AP
LAS VEGAS,
A county board voted unanimously Tuesday to rename busy McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas after former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. The all-Democratic Clark County Commission approved a measure directing the county’s airport staff to file a change with the Federal Aviation Administration renaming the facility Harry Reid International Airport.
The county commission oversees the airport and is the final authority on a name change. There have been longstanding calls to rename the airport. Its current namesake, former Nevada Sen. Patrick McCarran, served as one of Nevada’s two U.S. senators from 1933 until his death in 1954. He was known for his contributions to aviation along with his anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic views.
Reid, a Democrat and the former Senate majority leader, retired from the Senate in 2016 after serving 30 years. The proposal was put forward by Commissioner Tick Segerblom, a former chair of the state Democratic Party who announced last week he is again running for the chairmanship.
One woman who didn’t give her name suggested renaming the airport as Siegfried and Roy International Airport, paying tribute to “two immigrants who brought beauty and joy” to Las Vegas visitors. Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, the late German entertainment duo. were known for their magic show featuring white tigers.
Others suggested picking something more neutral such as Las Vegas International Airport and said that amid the pandemic, the county should not spend several million dollars rebranding the airport. Commissioner Tick Segerblom, who pushed for the name change, said it will be paid for entirely by private contributions, not taxpayer money.
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