Inouye misses Pearl Harbor anniversary due to healthcare debate

Monday's anniversary of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came and went without one famous name: Decorated World War II veteran Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who missed the anniversary events for just the third time in 56 years.

Healthcare reform votes forced Inouye, a Medal of Honor winner, to stay in D.C. at the request of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). With Senate Democrats scrambling to meet a 60-vote threshold on procedural and amendment votes, Reid cannot spare any senators and actually kept the chamber in session all weekend.

Inouye had said several weeks ago he planned to return to Hawaii to observe the anniversary, but changed his mind.

"In the past 56 years, I've missed it two times because I was hospitalized," Inouye said. "This is my third... Obviously all [Reid] had to do was say, 'We've got votes.' What do you expect me to do? I'm a team player."

Inouye — the first Japanese-American to serve in the House and Senate, said he was hospitalized in December of 1967 and 1968 because he was being tested for lung cancer. The tests proved negative. The senator lost an arm in April of 1945 after storming multiple German machine gun nests during combat in Italy — the assault which won him the Medal of Honor.