[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 165 (Thursday, December 20, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H7362]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING SENATOR DANIEL INOUYE
(Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address
the House for 1 minute.)
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Senator Inouye lies in state this morning.
But as a young lieutenant platoon leader on a battlefield in Italy,
even after being shot in the stomach by German machine-gun fire, he
refused medical treatment and still managed to find the courage to
destroy two machine-gun posts. Nearly losing consciousness from blood
loss, he heroically charged a third machine-gun nest before having his
right arm severed by a German grenade. Somehow, even after those grave
injuries, Daniel Inouye still found a way to toss a grenade that
destroyed the third bunker.
What an American. What a man who loved this country and stood for the
values of diversity. He loved the independence of the Congress, and he
fought for it in the strength of our democracy and the values of
America. His words were this:
I represented the people of Hawaii and this Nation honestly
and to the best of my ability. I think I did okay.
To the Senator and your family, you did more than okay. To the Asian
American community in Houston, Texas, and all of Texas, I want you to
note this hero spoke volumes for what America is all about, that no
matter where we've come from, we can stand equally under the sun.
He thought of that and his beloved Hawaii as his final words, not
only in representing Hawaii--``aloha''--but to America.
Senator, we love you, and good-bye. What a great champion, a great
warrior for peace, and one who represented all of us so well.
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