Daniel Ken Inouye (born September 7, 1924) is the senior United States Senator from Hawaii. He has been a senator for more than 40 years, a distinction which few other current senators have achieved. He was also the first American of Japanese descent to serve in the United States House of Representatives and later the Senate. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Biography

Inouye was born in Hawaii and spent his childhood there. In 1943 he enlisted in the Army. During the World War II campaign in Europe he received the Bronze Star and also the Distinguished Service Cross, which was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor. Although he lost his right arm in the war he remained in the military until 1947, discharged with the rank of captain. He went to college on the GI Bill, and by 1953 he had become a lawyer. Soon afterward he was elected to the territorial legislature, of which he was a member until shortly before Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959. He won a seat in the United States House of Representatives as one of Hawaii's first full members, and took office on August 21, 1959, when Hawaii became a state. He was reelected in 1960.

In 1962 he was elected to the United States Senate, succeeding fellow Democratic Sen. Oren E. Long. He has been re-elected every six years; 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992 and 1998. He was chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence from 1975 until 1979, and chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs from 1987 until 1995 and from 2001 until 2003. Inouye was also involved in the Iran Contra investigations of the 1980s, chairing a special committee from 1987 until 1989. He was a candidate for reelection to the Senate in 2004 and easily defeated his Republican opponent, Campbell Cavasso.

"There exists a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself." - Senator Daniel K. Inouye

Trivia

Daniel Inouye appeared as himself in The Next Karate Kid (1994).

External links

• Official website (http://inouye.senate.gov/)
• Congressional biography (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=I000025)
• Profile (http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=S0210103&PHPSESSID=9509763a55ed6c42ec327003147c98b7)