North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper officially asked for a statue of Rev. Billy Graham to be placed in the Capitol, The Raleigh News-Observer reported.
Cooper sent a letter to the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress as part of the required steps to replace a statue in the Statuary Hall Section of the Capitol, the report said.
Those honored with statues in the Statuary Section must be deceased. Graham was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and died Feb. 21.
Each state has two statues in the Capitol. North Carolina's lawmakers passed legislation in 2015 that called for a Graham statue to replace one of former Gov. Charles Aycock, as well as creating a commission to choose a sculptor and to handle the financing of building the new statue, the report said.
The next step in the process would require the Joint Committee on Library Action to approve or deny the request.
Aycock was governor of North Carolina from 1901 to 1905 who believed in "unending separation of the races," the report said. North Carolina's other statue in the Capitol is of Zebulon B. Vance, a Confederate officer and 2-time state governor, the report said.
Statues of two other faith leaders represent states in the Capitol: Mormon leader Brigham Young represents Utah and Catholic priest Father Damien represents Hawaii, The News-Observer reported.
Graham is one of only four civilians to lay in honor at the U.S. Capitol. The others are two Capitol police officers that were killed in a shooting at the building in 1998 and Civil rights icon Rosa Parks in 2005, UPI reported.
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