This interest in preserving the rights of minorities and correcting past wrongs found natural expression through his work on the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Inouye wound up on Indian Affairs by chance. As a member of the steering committee, which made committee assignments, he had been directed to fill a vacancy on the select committee. When Inouye could not fill the slot, Senator Byrd suggested Inouye fill the seat himself.
Testifying with Senator McCain before the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, Inouye argued that the Constitution vested Congress with power over Indian affairs and, thus, the committee could not be removed except by constitutional amendment. He claimed in that he devoted more time and effort to his work on Indian Affairs than any other committee.
In , as Senator Stevens faced federal charges and a stiff re-election campaign, Inouye flew out to Alaska to campaign for his old friend. The endorsement created a rift with the eventual nominee, Barack Obama, who spent much of his early life growing up in Hawaii.
Inouye routinely received between three to four times the number of votes his opponents received. Through , Inouye never won less than 73 percent of the vote in his Senate campaigns, thriving on his easygoing, charming demeanor. Reed used the allegation in campaign ads against Inouye.
No inquiry was launched, however, since the hairstylist, Lenore Kwock, declined to press charges. Reed took down the ads when Kwock threatened his campaign with a lawsuit. Inouye, who himself welcomed an investigation but otherwise refused to comment on the allegations, won the election with 57 percent of the vote. Late in his long career in the public eye, Inouye had ascended to the pinnacle of politics in the Aloha State and had become a revered figure in the U.
Early in his career, Inouye often joined Burns and fellow nd veteran and Democratic strategist Dan Aoki for breakfast to pick delegates to the Democratic National Conventions. His reach extended deep into state and municipal politics thanks to his broad network of former staffers and assistants.
By October, however, Inouye had once more tightened his grip on the reins. In early December , Daniel Inouye was hospitalized. Congress, — , vol. Gall, eds. Williams, Jr. Inouye, U. When President Barack Obama joined House Republicans in a refusal to accept the continued use of earmarks, Inouye bowed to pressure.
Nakanishi and Ellen D. Wu, eds. Daniel K. View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Publishing Office, Goodsell, Jane.
Daniel Inouye. New York, NY: Crowell, Inouye, Daniel K. Journey to Washington. Smith, Larry. New York, NY: W. Memorial Addresses and Other Tributes. Washington, D. Featured Search Historical Highlights of the House. Learn about Foreign Leader Addresses. Featured Search the People of the House. Majority Leaders. Bean Soup! Featured Black Americans in Congress. Featured Mace of the U. House of Represen- tatives. I Company went in with men; eight walked out unhurt. K Company began with men; 17 walked out.
As a result of his courage Sergeant Inouye with given a battlefield commission to second lieutenant. At one point while he was leading an attack, a German round struck him in the chest directly above his heart, but the bullet was stopped by the two silver dollars he happened to have stacked in his shirt pocket. He continued to carry the coins throughout the war in his shirt pocket as good luck charms.
Three members of the nd, Barney Hajiro, James Okubo, and George Sakato were awarded the Medal of Honor for their participation on the rescue, although due to discrimination at the time, they did not receive their medals until In early Lieutenant Inouye and the nd redeployed to the Gothic Line. For nine months in German Field Marshal Kesselring directed the construction of the Gothic Line along the top of the Apennines in the mountains joining Italy and France.
This included the Todt Organization known for its fortifications at Monte Cassino. It was impossible terrain and the worst possible scenario for the American forces attacking uphill against well-fortified and dug in German infantry and artillery. The American platoon was in turn flanked in a surprise ambush by three MG machine guns at relatively close range.
He stood up to look for the best avenue for cover when he was shot in the stomach. Ignoring his wound, he proceeded to attack and destroy the first machine gun nest with hand grenades and his Thompson submachine gun. When informed of the severity of his wound, he refused treatment and rallied his men for an attack on the second machine gun position, which he successfully destroyed before collapsing from blood loss. As his squad distracted the third machine gunner, Inouye crawled toward the final bunker, coming within 10 yards.
As he raised himself up and cocked his arm to throw his last grenade, a German soldier inside the bunker fired a rifle grenade, which struck his right elbow, nearly severing most of his arm and leaving his primed grenade reflexively "clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore". Inouye's horrified soldiers moved to his aid, but he shouted for them to keep back out of fear his severed fist would involuntarily relax and drop the grenade.
While the German inside the bunker reloaded his rifle, Inouye pried the live grenade from his useless right hand and transferred it to his left. As the enemy soldier aimed his rifle at him, Inouye tossed the grenade into the bunker and destroyed it. He stumbled to his feet and continued forward, silencing the last German resistance with a one-handed burst from his Thompson before being wounded in the leg and tumbling unconscious to the bottom of the ridge.
He awoke to see the worried men of his platoon hovering over him. His only comment before being carried away was to order them back to their positions, saying "nobody called off the war!
The remainder of Inouye's mutilated right arm was later amputated at a field hospital and without proper anesthesia, as he had been given too much morphine at an aid station and it was feared any more would lower his blood pressure enough to kill him. He had to endure his arm being sawn off without anesthesia. When he revived, he refused evacuation until he was sure his men had secured the captured ridge.
Nine hours after he was wounded, when he reached a field hospital, the doctors quickly concluded Inouye had no chance of survival, but he insisted they operate. By then he had been given so much morphine, the doctors could not give him general anesthesia without further endangering his life, so he remained conscious through the operation that followed.
The surgeons saved his life, but they could not save his arm. Inouye was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism; he remained in the Army until , when he was discharged with the rank of captain.
On his return to the States, Inouye and other minority veterans were subjected to much of the same discrimination they had met before the war. Inouye committed himself to the cause of equal rights for all Americans, and for all residents of Hawaii as fully enfranchised American citizens. He married Margaret Shinobu Awamura in , while attending the university on the G. Returning to Hawaii, he took up the practice of law and then served as Deputy Public Prosecutor for the City of Honolulu.
In , Inouye was elected to the territorial legislature, where he served as leader of a new Democratic majority. Representative; he took his seat in Congress on August 21, , the day Hawaii became a state. He was re-elected to a full term in the House the following year. In , Daniel Inouye was elected to a vacant seat in the U. Senate, where he was soon appointed to the Senate Armed Services Committee. In the years that followed, as a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, he won a reputation as a tireless advocate for the development of his native state.
He achieved even greater visibility as a member of the Senate Select Committee investigating charges arising out of the Watergate affair, proceedings which led directly to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in Again, Inouye won praise for evenhandedness, as he sought to improve legislative oversight for the agencies without impairing the intelligence-gathering necessary for national security.
In , Senator Inouye served as senior counsel to the Kissinger Commission, a bi-partisan panel reviewing U. The controversies surrounding this issue soon brought Inouye into the national spotlight once again.
In , he was called on to chair a special Senate committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair.
0コメント