Jerry Nadler: “I rise today to oppose the removal of the name of the father of our country from Washington National Airport. While…”

“I rise today to oppose the removal of the name of the father of our country from Washington National Airport. While there are many people in American history deserving of recognition in their role in the development of our country, I do not believe that any of them made a larger contribution than our first President, a great patriot, George Washington. Let us forget for just a moment that Washington National Airport is named for the father of our country, but instead for someone who won the 'what are we going to name our airport lottery.' Even in that situation, do we really want to follow the old Soviet Union model where we change the names of our cities and landmarks depending on the whims of whomever is in power? ... Why is it that you want to deny George Washington his due?”