Hawaii’s Sen. Daniel Inouye Dead at 88

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and the second-longest serving senator in U.S. history, died Monday at the age of 88.

Inouye was a member of the Senate Commerce Committee when the transportation reauthorization bill, SAFETEA-LU, was passed in 2005.

From 2007 to 2009 he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and last year he became chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

Inouye, a decorated World War II combat veteran, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1959, the year Hawaii became a state. Three years later, he won election to the Senate. He won his ninth term in 2010.

The AFL CIO’s transportation trades department said in a statement that “for more than five decades transportation workers could count on Sen. Inouye to defend their jobs and rights. The Senator always advocated for increased investments in our transportation system and jobs, and aggressively led on policy initiatives that make our nation the world leader in the safe and efficient movement of goods and people.”