Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., visited Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., this past weekend as the Republican senator recovers from treatment for brain cancer.
“I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to tell him how much his friendship meant to me. So that’s why I was out there this weekend,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Monday, according to a statement from his office.
McCain has been in his home state of Arizona recovering from treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that he was diagnosed with late last year.
“The last few years, we sort of thought of him as the shadow secretary of state during the Obama years as he traveled the world — sometimes on a long weekend — to some of the least desirable places to visit. I avoided those trips, but for those who took them it was a little bit like the Bataan Death March. Junkets they weren’t,” McConnell said.
McConnell noted McCain’s time in the service and nearly six years spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
“He also was passionate in working to take better care of our veterans. No one, with the possible exception of Sen. Isakson, spent more time working on veterans issues and trying to take care of them — as they richly deserved — than John McCain,” he said.
The Kentucky senator said he told McCain how much his colleagues missed his presence and comic relief on Capitol Hill.
“One thing we all know about John that remains the case today, he doesn’t have a relaxed bone in his body. And he still has plenty to say about work I assure you. He misses his colleagues, he’d rather be here. And I told him we miss him too. All the great jokes and smart-alecky comments. He’s a joy to be around,” McConnell said.
Although McCain has been away from Capitol Hill, he continues to make an impression in Washington. Last week, the senator sent a statement to his colleagues asking them to reject the nomination of Trump’s controversial pick to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel.
