00                  HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 16 am                                                                 
01 Requesting the Governor to proclaim September 7, 2009, as Senator Daniel Inouye Day.                                    
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, who was born on September 7, 1924, is a                                   
04 longtime and valued friend of Alaska; and                                                                               
05       WHEREAS Senator Daniel Inouye stands as the largest figure in public life in the                                
06 history of the State of Hawaii, having held elective office since before Hawaii attained                                
07 statehood in 1959; and                                                                                                  
08       WHEREAS Senator Daniel Inouye has received many military honors for valor,                                      
09 culminating with the Medal of Honor for heroism as a member of the legendary 442nd                                      
10 Regimental Combat Team in World War II, in which he lost his right arm; and                                             
11       WHEREAS Senator Daniel Inouye continues to serve his country with distinction as                                
12 a United States Senator, serving on the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations                                
13 and championing the concerns of veterans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and American                                
14 Indians, and safeguarding national defense; and                                                                         
15       WHEREAS Senator Daniel Inouye is the third most senior member of the United                                     

01 States Senate; and                                                                                                      
02       WHEREAS Senator Daniel Inouye has sided with Alaska on key issues, such as                                      
03 opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, supporting a national missile                         
04 defense system, opposing a plan to shut down Eielson Air Force Base, and helping to approve                             
05 reparations for Aleuts, who, along with Japanese-Americans, suffered when forcibly placed in                            
06 federal internment camps during World War II; and                                                                       
07       WHEREAS Senator Daniel Inouye has worked closely with and has stood by his                                      
08 friend and fellow World War II veteran, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens--a friendship so strong                              
09 that each refers to the other as his brother; and                                                                       
10       WHEREAS Senator Daniel Inouye is sometimes known affectionately as "Alaska's                                    
11 Third Senator";                                                                                                         
12       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                      
13 Governor to proclaim September 7, 2009, as Senator Daniel Inouye Day, in recognition of                                 
14 Senator Inouye's tireless and selfless service to the country and to Alaska, and to show this                           
15 state's gratitude to its longtime and valued friend.                                                                    
16       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to Honorable Daniel Inouye and the                                      
17 Honorable Daniel Akaka, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Neil Abercrombie and the                                       
18 Honorable Mazie Hirono, U.S. Representatives, members of the Hawaii delegation in                                       
19 Congress; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators,                                    
20 and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in                                   
21 Congress; the Honorable Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska; and the Honorable Ted Stevens,                                 
22 former U.S. Senator for Alaska.