Senate holds moment of silence for Inouye

Senate leaders marked Sen. Daniel Inouye’s (D-Hawaii) death by having a moment of silence in the Senate Tuesday.

Inouye died Monday afternoon at the age of 88. He had been hospitalized earlier this month at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., for respiratory complications.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he wanted to speak about Inouye again since he was “very emotional” yesterday when he announced Inouye’s death on the Senate floor.

“His personal friendship I value so very, very much,” Reid said Tuesday. “He was a colleague but really a friend. … He helped me do my best here. 

“He always had so much confidence in me. When I was struggling after first coming to the Senate two decades ago he told me I would be running the Senate someday … and he was right.”

Reid said “aloha” was Inouye’s dying word.

“Today it’s with a heavy heart that those of us who loved Sen. Inouye say ‘aloha’,” Reid said. “It was his dying word and it didn’t mean goodbye it meant I love you.”

Inouye represented Hawaii since statehood in 1959. He was the second longest serving senator in U.S. history.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called him a "remarkable individual.

"Today is indeed a day to celebrate the life and extraordinary service of Dan Inouye," McConnell said Tuesday. "What a remarkable individual he was."

---