It’s been nine years since Sen. Jesse Helms died, and while he certainly is a figure that will live on in the history books, it’s interesting to see him still making mainstream media headlines. News & Observer reports Helms is posthumously in the middle of a North Carolina congressional delegation dispute over the naming of federal buildings:
U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., introduced a bill Thursday proposing to rename the U.S. Post Office and federal courthouse building in downtown Durham as the “John Hervey Wheeler United States Courthouse” in honor of his late mentor.
But, Butterfield said, two North Carolina Republican congressmen will not sign the bill.
….U.S. Rep. George Holding, R-N.C., and U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., won’t allow Butterfield to easily honor Wheeler, Butterfield said, because, he refused to sign a bill to name a different federal building in North Carolina after longtime U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.
….“Senator Jesse Helms was repugnant,” Butterfield said. “He demonstrated racist behavior and imposed on North Carolina an image that we have yet to recover from.”
When Butterfield was asked what the chances are of his ever signing onto a bill to name a building after Helms, he replied, “Less than zero.”
Needless to say Helms was a controversial figure at both the state and national level. Love him or hate him, it says something about his stature when he’s still making headlines nearly a decade after his death.
