Washington honors McCain at Capitol

WASHINGTON—Hundreds of Americans lined up outside the U.S. Capitol to pay their respects to the late Sen. John McCain Friday. McCain is the 31st person to lie in state at the Rotunda of the Capitol. The former presidential candidate and Vietnam prisoner of war died at age 81 last Saturday from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

At an 11 a.m. service, Vice President Mike Pence spoke, saying President Donald Trump asked him “to pay a debt of honor and respect to a man who served his country throughout his life.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., also spoke. “Though the highest office eluded him,” Ryan said, “he attained what is far more enduring: the abiding affection of his fellow citizens and an example for future generations.” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, and others represented the Trump administration. Trump, who had public spats with McCain, did not attend.

A Saturday memorial service will be held at the Washington National Cathedral, where former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will deliver eulogies. McCain will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis, Md., on Sunday afternoon.