hi_sen_inouye
SEN. DANIEL INOUYE
Age: 74 Born: September 7, 1924 in Honolulu, Hawaii Education: George Washington University, J.D. (1952); University of HI, B.A. (1950) Military: U.S. Army (1943-47) Family: Married - Margaret; 1 son Hometown: Honolulu, HI Religion: United Methodist Career: U.S. Senator (1992-present); U.S. House of Reps.(1959-62); Hawaii State Senate (1958-59); HI House of Representatives (1954-58); Honolulu Deputy Public Prosecutor (1953-54) |
· Democratic Incumbent Sen. Daniel Inouye is the first Japanese-American to serve in Congress. In 1976, he was named the first Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
· In 1954, Inouye was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives. When Hawaii became a state in 1959, he served in the U.S. House.
· Inouye served in the Army during WWII and earned the rank of Captain. In 1945, he lost his right arm during a German grenade attack in Italy.
· In 1989, Inouye lost his bid for Senate Majority Leader. He is the 4th most senior member of the Senate and is the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.
· During the 1992 election, Inouye faced newspaper owner, Republican Rick Reed. Reed, attacked Inouye's insider status and ran ads with Inouye's hair stylist, Lenore Kwock, alleging the Senior Senator sexually harassed her 17-years earlier. Kwock said she was taped unknowingly and demanded the campaign stop running the ads. Despite the controversy, Inouye defeated Reed by a wide margin (57%-27%); Green Party candidate, Linda Martin - 14%).
· In the Senate, Inouye's record on most issues is liberal. He voted against the ban on late-term abortions and against the Defense of Marriage Act, although he personally opposes same-sex marriages.
· As the Chairman of the Idian Affairs Committee (1989-94), Inouye worked to create a building on the National Mall in Washington, DC to house part of the American Indian Museum Collection.
· In 1993, he sponsored a bill in which the U.S. apologized for overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy. Inouye says he is sympathetic to calls from native Hawaiians for some form of sovereignty; but has also said he would never permit an independent Hawaii nation