Senate Chaplain Barry Black dedicated the chamber’s daily prayer on Monday to the late Sen. John McCain, thanking God for the “gift” of the Arizona Republican.
“We are grateful for his sacrificial willingness to take the road less traveled, to rise above partisanship, to provide a profile in courage and to give his life in service to you and country,” Black said as part of prayer delivered once a day from the Senate chamber.
“Comfort his beloved Cindy and all his loved ones. Bring solace to the multitudes who mourn his death. May his consequential, patriotic and heroic legacy challenge us all to leave the world better than we found it,” Black added as part of the prayer.{mosads}
Black occasionally uses the Senate’s daily opening prayer to comment on items in the news or current political events.
In addition to Black, seven senators took to the Senate floor on Monday to remember McCain, who died on Saturday. He was diagnosed in July 2017 with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spoke for approximately 15 minutes about McCain from the Senate floor, calling him “America’s hero all along.”
“The Senate won’t be the same without John McCain. I think it’s fair to say that the passion John brought to his work was unsurpassed in this body,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) read two paragraphs from McCain’s farewell statement on the Senate floor.
“Up until the very end, John McCain still believed the Senate was capable of solving our country’s greatest challenges,” Schumer said. “And for all his cynicism, he still believed the Senate could reach that higher calling.”