Speaker Detail

Daniel Inouye is a U.S. senator from Hawaii, the most senior member of the chamber and its president pro tempore. He serves as chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He is also the ranking Democrat on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee and sits on the Rules Committee. In 2011, the government of Japan made Inouye the seventh American and the first of Japanese descent to receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, the highest award in the Order of the Rising Sun. He helped establish the Interparliamentary Exchange Program between the U.S. Senate and Japan's legislature. Inouye has championed the interests of Hawaii's people by strengthening the state's infrastructure, diversifying its economy and protecting its natural resources. He was first elected to the Senate in 1962 and is in his ninth consecutive term. Inouye is a World War II veteran, having served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He earned the nation's highest award for military valor, the Medal of Honor.