CIRI president and chief executive officer Margie Brown joined Alaska legislators and other prominent Alaskans to honor U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii for his many years of support to Alaska and its priorities in Congress.
“CIRI, along with many other Alaska organizations, appreciates Sen. Inouye’s long and distinguished service to our country and the consideration he’s given to Alaska’s interests,” said Brown.
Sen. Inouye was presented with a formal copy of the resolution passed by the Alaska Legislature that recognizes his efforts at a luncheon on Sept. 8 in Washington, D.C. He was also given an Alaska flag that was flown over the Alaska State Capitol on the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood. The Alaska Legislature also designated Sen. Inouye’s 85th birthday, Sept. 7, as Senator Daniel Inouye Day.
The senator assisted in many initiatives important to Alaskans, including CIRI shareholders, such as approving reparations for Aleuts who were relocated and suffered in internment camps during World War II and supporting the opening of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil development.
Sen. Inouye has served in Congress since Hawaii became a state in 1959, first as a Representative. He then was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he has served since 1963, and ranks in seniority only behind West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd. Inouye chairs the powerful Senate Committee on Appropriations.
Sen. Inouye is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and a combat veteran of World War II, in which he lost his right arm. He is a second-generation Japanese-American.
