A bill proposed by three DFL state Representatives would commission a bust of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone to be permanently displayed at the state Capitol.

The bill is sponsored by State Reps. Tom Rukavina of Virginia, Rick Hansen of South St. Paul, and Patti Fritz of Faribault.

Wellstone served nearly two terms in the U.S. Senate — from 1991 until he died in a plane crash near Eveleth just 11 days before the 2002 election.

Wellstone, his wife, daughter, three staffers and two pilots were on the way to the funeral of Rep. Rukavina’s father, Mark, when the plane crashed.

Should the bill pass, Wellstone’s head would become the 18th bust displayed in the Capitol, joining these state luminaries: (Not all the sculptors and dates are known.)

• Edward Burdick
  Sculptor:  Paul Granlund
  Placed:  1989
  Location:  Immediately outside House Chamber
• Chief Wabasha III
  Sculptor:  Joann Bird
  Placed:  1986
  Location:  First floor, east hall of outer rotunda
• Martin Luther King Jr.
  Sculptor:  George Bassett
  Placed:  1986
  Location:  First floor, base of East Grand Stair
• Sigurd Olson
  Sculptor:  George Bassett
  Placed:  1985
  Location:  First floor, north corridor
• Chief Justice Warren Burger
  Sculptor:  Walker Hancock
  Placed:  1984
  Location:  Second floor, in entry area outside Supreme Court
• Nicholas D. Coleman
  Sculptor:  Paul Granlund
  Placed:  1983
  Location:  First floor, base of West Grand Stair
• Ignatius Donnelly
  Sculptor:  John Karl Daniels
  Placed:  1981
  Location:  First floor, north corridor
• Hubert H. Humphrey
  Sculptor:  George Bassett
  Placed:  1977
  Location:  First floor, base of West Grand Stair Inventory of Mall
• Henry Hastings Sibley
  Sculptor:  Henry Dexter
  Placed:  1860
  Location:  First floor, north hall of outer rotunda
• William Watts Folwell
  Location:  First floor, north corridor of outer rotunda
• William Windom
  Location:  First floor, south hall of outer rotunda
• Winfield Scott Hammond
  Location:  First floor, south hall of out rotunda
• Cass Gilbert
  Location:  First floor, west hall of outer rotunda
• Knute Nelson
  Location:  Senate Chamber, SW corner
• Cushman K. Davis
  Sculptor:  I. G. Trentanove
  Location:  Senate Chamber, NE corner
• Henry Mower Rice
  Sculptor:  Luella Varney
  Placed:  Sculpted in Rome in 1906
  Location:  Senate Chamber, NW corner
• William Washburn
  Sculptor:  Franklin Simmons
  Placed:  Sculpted in Rome in 1906
  Location:  Senate Chamber, SE corner.