A Minneapolis federal office building has now officially been renamed in honor of late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, a prominent liberal and Democrat who died in a plane crash in 2002.
The naming comes after bipartisan legislation was passed to rename The Federal Building in Minneapolis, over 20 years after the crash in Eveleth, Minnesota that also killed his wife Sheila, his daughter Marcia, and several members of his staff.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) said during the dedication ceremony that the work done inside the building will carry on Wellstone's legacy.
"This building right here is going to be about providing homes for low-income families, making sure that people are able to, as Marcia noted, get to see the rest of the world," said Senator Klobuchar. "It is about standing up for working people."
The building houses offices for the Department of State's Passport Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D) also spoke at today's dedication ceremony saying in part that Wellstone's career, advocating for the working class, inspired many of today's state leaders.
"I know that he inspired every single one of us that is here today to dream, to take up the fight to make our politics work for regular people, and not just the rich and powerful," Smith explained.
It was Wellstone's campaign plane that crashed in 2002, just twelve days before Election Day on the way to the Eveleth airport. Paul Wellstone served Minnesota in the U.S. Senate for twelve years, and was a teacher and activist for more than thirty.