Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the most senior member of the upper chamber, died Monday at the age of 88.
According to his office, the senator's final word was "Aloha."
Inouye
was hospitalized earlier this month at the Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., for respiratory complications,
but aides had said he was stable and improving.
“I rise today with a heavy heart, my friend Dan Inouye just died,”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on the Senate floor in
the minutes immediately after the news. “I’ve never known anyone like
Dan Inouye… the kindness he’s shown me since my time here in the Senate
is something I will cherish always...We'll all miss him, and I wish I
were capable of saying more, but that's all I can say."
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