Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is pressing the Senate to consider a new name for the Russell Senate Office Building, citing former Sen. Richard Russell’s record of opposing civil rights legislation and promoting white supremacist views.

In a letter to senators sent on Juneteenth, Green proposed renaming the building the Old Senate Office Building as an interim measure until a permanent name can be decided.

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“Renaming the Russell Senate Office Building is a powerful step in rejecting Russell’s legacy rooted in racial division and oppression,” Green said in an announcement calling for the removal of the “racist white supremacist name.”

“Throughout his career, Senator Russell engaged in constant lobbying on behalf of opponents to Civil Rights,” Green added in the letter. “Perhaps most telling of his beliefs, during a lengthy filibuster against anti-lynching legislation, Senator Russell professed a willingness to uphold ‘white supremacy in the social, economic, and political life of our state.’”

Russell served as Georgia’s governor from 1931 to 1933, then spent nearly 40 years in the Senate until his death. Green raised the issue in 2020 and brought forward a House resolution calling for a new name, but the proposal was met with resistance from Georgia’s Republican senators.

After Arizona Sen. John McCain died in 2018, some senators pushed to rename the building after him, but at the time, Georgia’s Republican senators shot down the idea. Democrats now occupy both of the state’s Senate seats.

Green’s push to rename the Senate building comes as President Donald Trump recently announced that the Defense Department would revert seven Army bases previously honoring Confederate military figures back to their original names. This comes after the restoration of Fort Bragg and Fort Benning to their original names earlier this year.

However, these “renamed bases” no longer technically honor Confederate figures — instead, they are being renamed after decorated veterans bearing the same surname as their original honorees, including three soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

In his letter, Green argues that keeping Russell’s name on the building honors views that conflict with American values.

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“By removing the name ‘Russell’ from the building, the Senate will advance our noble quest for a more perfect Union,” Green wrote. “What the Senate did by renaming military bases bearing the names of Confederate soldiers, it can (in the name of honor and decency) do for its own shameful Russell Senate Office Building.”

Green did not clarify whether renaming the building in honor of someone else with the last name Russell would be an acceptable alternative. The Washington Examiner reached out to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for comment.