[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17239-17240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DANIEL K. INOUYE

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise, as so many of my colleagues have, to 
mourn and pay tribute to Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

[[Page 17240]]

  He was a giant of the Senate. He was an individual whose courage, 
whose compassion, and whose commitment to this country has never been 
exceeded by anyone who served here--indeed, by any American I can think 
of.
  A few years ago, I was asked to introduce the Senator at an event. I 
wrote down some points on a card that I kept on my desk, and will 
forever keep on my desk:

       Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye, E Company, 442nd 
     Regimental Combat Team, San Terenzo, Italy, April 21, 1945.

  That was the day he was wounded leading his platoon against an enemy 
pillbox, the day for which he would be ultimately awarded the 
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions.
  Then I have another date: May 8, 1945. That was VE Day, the end of 
the war. Seventeen days before the end of the war, when Berlin was 
encircled and collapsing, when American forces were rushing and the end 
was clear, and indeed every soldier recognized that the war was coming 
to an end, Senator Inouye didn't stop serving, didn't stop sacrificing, 
didn't stop giving his all to protect his soldiers and accomplish his 
mission. Indeed, that spirit of never giving up, of never failing to do 
his duty, animated his service in the Senate, animated his service to 
this country, and to the State of Hawaii.
  At the time I gave these remarks, he was 1 of 90 living holders of 
the Congressional Medal of Honor. Today we mourn his passing, his 
contributions to Hawaii, his contributions to this Senate which he held 
in the highest esteem and which he personified so grandly.
  I think one of the factors that led him to a career in public service 
and led him to such distinguished service was the recognition--not 
theoretically but practically--that despite his great suffering and 
sacrifice, he was lucky because there were many other young men and 
women who perished in that war and in subsequent wars; that he had 
sacrificed much but had not given his life, although he very nearly 
gave his life.
  At the outset of the war, the Librarian of Congress Archibald 
MacLeish, wrote:

       They say, We were young. We have died. Remember us.
       They say, We have done what we could but until it is 
     finished it is not done.
       They say, We have given our lives but until it is finished 
     no one can know what our lives gave.
       They say, Our deaths are not ours: they are yours: they 
     will mean what you make them.
       They say, Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace 
     and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say: it is you who 
     must say this.

  In everything Dan Inouye did, he spoke for those soldiers. He gave 
their lives meaning by his selfless service and sacrifice to this 
Nation. He gave it every day by making this place--this country--live 
up to its highest ideals, a place of opportunity for all, a place of 
fairness and decency. He did it as few did.
  So those voices that were stilled in 1945, and in the Korean War and 
in the war in Vietnam and subsequent wars, always had a voice here; and 
it wasn't just words, it was actions. His life gave meaning, and that 
might be one of the highest achievements anyone can reach in this life.
  We all know his extraordinary service in so many different ways. We 
know also, in one of the great coincidences, three young men were in an 
Army hospital in Michigan: Dan Inouye, Phil Hart, and Bob Dole, 
American heroes; and that later they would come to this Senate and 
serve with distinction. I think it was particularly meaningful that 
just a few days ago Senator Robert Dole--another great American--was on 
the floor of this Senate, still serving, still emblematic of the 
``greatest generation.''
  We will miss Senator Inouye. There are few words and not enough 
eloquence to describe the loss. I, too, particularly want to thank and 
extend my condolences to his wife Irene, to his son Ken, to his 
daughter-in-law Jessica, to his granddaughter Maggie, and to his 
stepdaughter Jennifer Hirano. They have lost more than any of us 
because they have lost a husband, a father, and a grandfather.
  Let me just conclude with the words uttered centuries ago by 
Thucydides:

       The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision 
     of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet 
     notwithstanding, go out to meet it.

  Dan Inouye knew the dangers. Dan Inouye knew that the glory was 
fleeting, and in fact combat wasn't particularly glorious at all. But 
he knew it was honorable to serve. He knew it was honorable to 
sacrifice for his soldiers and for his comrades. He knew it was 
honorable and decent to serve his State and his Nation, and he never 
failed to go forth to meet the challenges of his time.
  Now it is our time. Now we must give words and meaning to the voices 
that have been stilled in the service to this Nation. One of those 
giants and one of those powerful voices was Senator Daniel Inouye. The 
test will be whether we can measure up to what he did, and I hope for 
the sake of this country we can.

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