tom davis vows to kill the bill in committee:
GOP: Don't Name D.C. Street for Reagan By SOFIA MANNOS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 4, 8:27 PM ET
WASHINGTON - An influential House Republican spoke out Thursday against renaming one of Washington's main streets in honor of former President Reagan, calling the proposal "ridiculous."
Rep. Henry Bonilla (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, introduced a bill July 28 "to redesignate the street in the District of Columbia known as 16th Street Northwest as 'Ronald Reagan Boulevard.'" The street runs from the northern tip of the city to the White House.
But Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., the chairman of the House committee that oversees District affairs, promised Thursday to kill the measure.
"I think the proposal is ridiculous," Davis told WTOP radio. "We'll put it in the appropriate file."
Davis was unequivocal in his opposition to the Bonilla proposal, saying he would also object to the measure being attached to another bill.
"We've named the Ronald Reagan airport, we have the Ronald Reagan building downtown, but I think if Mr. Bonilla wants to name anything else, he ought to look to his own district in San Antonio," Davis said.
Washington Mayor Anthony A. Williams agreed with Davis.
In a statement Thursday, Williams said Bonilla should instead find "suitable sites" in Texas if he feels that more streets should be named after the late president.
"It's been a long time since I've heard of a plan that made so little sense," said Williams.
Changing signs and addresses along 16th Street would cost the city at least $1 million, Williams said.
Efforts to reach Bonilla's office for comment were not immediately successful.
