Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) said goodbye to his “brother” and “friend,” Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) on the Senate floor Monday night, after news broke that Inouye had died.
“It is very difficult for me to rise today with a heavy heart to bid aloha to my good friend, colleague and brother, Dan Inouye,” Akaka said. “It is hard for me to believe that the terrible news I received is true. Sen. Inouye was a true patriot, an American hero in ever sense and he is at this time in Hawaii the greatest leader.”
Inouye died Monday 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.
“It is an incredible understatement to call him an institution, but this chamber will never be the same without him,” Akaka said. “The way he conducted himself commanded respect for all that he worked with.”
Inouye was third in line for the presidency as president pro-temp of the Senate. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the next most senior senator, now takes that slot.
Inouye also served as the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. He had served Hawaii in the House right after it gained statehood in 1959.
“Tomorrow will be the first day since Hawaii became a state in 1959 that Dan Inouye will not be representing us,“ Akaka said. “He really worked to shape Hawaii and this great country.
“You’ll be missed in Washington as much as you’ll be missed in Hawaii. Rest in peace.”
