Akaka Bids Aloha to U.S. Senate
Sen. Daniel Akaka today delivered his farewell address on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Not surprisingly, Sen. Daniel Inouye was top of mind, with Akaka wishing him well. Inouye has been in hospitalized for nearly a week as doctors monitor his oxygen intake.
Akaka was chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and so in his farewell speech, he asked his colleagues to continue expanding veterans services.
Excerpts from his prepared remarks:
Mr. President, before I begin, I would like to take a moment to wish my good friend, my colleague of 36 years, my brother, Dan Inouye, Hawaii’s senior Senator, a speedy recovery and return to the Senate.
As a senior in high school going to Kamehameha School for Boys, which was noted as a military school, my life was changed forever when I saw Japanese fighter planes attacking Pearl Harbor. Like most men in my generation, I joined the war effort. My path was forever altered.
When the war ended, I believe I was suffering from PTSD.
It was an act of Congress that allowed me, and the veterans of my generation, to build successful new lives.
Congress passed the G.I. Bill. And I say with certainty that I would not be standing here before you today without the opportunity the G.I. gave me, not only to get an education, but to have structure and a path forward, and the feeling that there was a way for me to help people.
