Republican and Democratic senators are moving to create a human rights commission named for the late Senator John McCain. Delaware Democrat Chris Coons and North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis will introduce a resolution establishing a panel that will conduct briefings and hearings to raise awareness of international human rights violations.
Tillis and Coons praised McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, for calling attention to human rights abuses and building bipartisan coalitions to take action. Today is Human Rights Day.
McCain served Arizona in Congress for 35 years before his death in August. McCain was a Navy fighter pilot and was shot down over Vietnam in 1967. He was repeatedly tortured during the five and-a-half years he was held prisoner