Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Sick.) and Sen. Invoice Cassidy (R-Los angeles.) on Tuesday offered a invoice proposing to rename a part of the road close to the Russian ambassador’s place of abode in Washington, D.C., as “Alexei Navalny Way.”
The invoice would honor the past due Russian opposition chief, Alexey Navalny, who died virtually precisely a yr in the past in a far off Arctic penal colony on the age of 47.
“Putin has tried to silence anyone in Russia who might dissent from his strategy — anyone who might have the audacity to suggest there should be democracy or freedom in that country,” Durbin mentioned in a observation. “He sent one of his harshest critics — Alexei Navalny — to prison and, tragically, to his death.”
Durbin mentioned he hopes the law honors Navalny’s reminiscence and guarantees “his efforts for a free Russia will never be forgotten.”
Navalny, who rose to prominence for his marketing campaign in opposition to corruption and Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in a Russian jail in February 2024.
His loss of life led to a public outcry and induced scrutiny of Russia from all over the world. Navalny were imprisoned since 2021, when he returned to Russia after getting better from a poisoning that he blamed on Putin, who denies the claims.
“The world was shaken at the news of Alexei Navalny’s death. Renaming the street near the Russian Ambassador’s residence, Navalny Way memorializes his fight for freedom and democracy,” Cassidy mentioned in a observation.
“When Russians visit our nation’s capital, they will remember his unflinching opposition to Putin’s dictatorial control,” Cassidy endured.
The invoice comes every week after President Trump and Putin spoke at period via telephone and the similar day that Russian and American delegations met in Saudi Arabia to speak about finishing the conflict in Ukraine.
The talks between the American citizens and Russians have induced worry amongst some U.S. lawmakers and Ecu officers, who’ve in large part agreed to regard Putin as a pariah at the global level since he introduced the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine 3 years in the past.
The invoice was once offered within the Area within the remaining Congress via a bipartisan duo: Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Sick.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
The Senate invoice could also be co-sponsored via Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.).
