ATLANTA – The Atlanta Veterans Affairs Regional Office was formally renamed in honor of the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson Monday during a ceremony at the building in Decatur.

Isakson, who died in 2021, served as chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee from 2015 until he retired from the Senate in 2019.

“Senator Isakson’s values and example continue to influence the United States Senate for the better,” Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said during Monday’s ceremony.

“Senator Isakson was a statesman among mere politicians, whose work ethic, whose commitment to the national interest over small partisan interests, and whose unyielding commitment to America’s veterans continues to have a positive impact on the Senate.”

Isakson, a Republican elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving five years in the U.S. House of Representatives, gained a reputation as a lawmaker willing to reach across the aisle to Democrats in order to pass meaningful legislation.

He hosted an annual barbecue aimed at getting Senate Republicans and Democrats talking to each other instead of pursuing partisan agendas, a practice the Senate has continued.

“He pursued the national interest by bridging the divide between partisans,” Ossoff said. “He recognized if the connective tissue between us is destroyed, it’s a risk to our national security, to our cohesion as a people, to our prosperity and security as a people.”

Ossoff sponsored the bipartisan bill naming the VA office after Isakson, which the Senate passed in 2022.