Legislators in North Carolina are pushing for a statue of Rev. Billy Graham to be placed inside the US Capitol. 

The National Statuary Hall holds statutes of two important persons from each state. North Carolina's statues are currently of former governor Charles Aycock and former senator Zebulon Vance. 

The lawmakers want to remove the statue of Aycock in favour of Rev. Graham. 

Aycock propelled the public education system forward in the state, but was also a white supremacist. He served as governor from 1901-1905, and died in 1912. 

"There was a thought that Gov. Aycock may not be one of the best representatives of North Carolina," said Rep. Charles Jeter, who sponsored the House bill to change the statue. "As times change, we need to make sure that the people that represent North Carolina do so with our best foot forward."

Bills were filed in the House of Representatives and the Senate last week requesting that a congressional committee approve the statue change. 

Rev. Graham was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and currently lives in Montreat, according to the Associated Press. He is one of the most popular evangelists in the world, and has brought millions of people to Christ through his Billy Graham Crusades. 

Graham, 96, has served as spiritual advisor to several presidents, and encourages Christians to spread the gospel throughout their communities. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's "My Hope" programme saw over 110,000 people commit their lives to Christ in 2014, and over 26,000 churches participated in the project.

Statues cannot be erected of living people, so the change would be effective following Graham's death. 

"To me, he was the best representative of North Carolina," Jeter explained. "He is by far the least polarising of all the people who are worthy of consideration."