Veteran became senator
DANIEL AKAKA, 1924 - 2018
Former Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka, who as the first Native Hawaiian elected to Congress served for more than three decades, died Friday. He was 93.
Akaka had been hospitalized for several months before his death in Honolulu, said Jon Yoshimura, the senator’s former communications director.
The Democrat served 14 years in the U.S. House before he was appointed to replace Sen. Spark Matsunaga, who died in 1990. Akaka won a special election that fall for the rest of Matsunaga’s term, and voters sent him back for consecutive terms until 2012, when he chose not to seek reelection.
His legislative style was described as low-key, a characterization he embraced.
“I have a Hawaiian style of dealing with my colleagues,” he said.
Akaka developed a reputation as a congenial legislator who made many friends while making few waves in pressing the interests of the 50th state.
In 1996, Akaka sponsored federal legislation that resulted in Medals of Honor — the nation’s highest honor for bravery — for 22 Asian American soldiers who fought during World War II.
Akaka once said his main accomplishment in Congress was obtaining federal funds for Hawaii for education, energy and Native Hawaiian programs. In the 2006 general election, the then-82-year-old senator stressed the value of his Senate seniority and his opposition to the war in Iraq.
Akaka went on to become chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
He expanded his criticism of the George W. Bush administration, getting involved in a number of issues with a more aggressive congressional staff. A World War II veteran, Akaka often stressed the hidden damage of war, including mental illness among veterans.
He introduced measures to improve services to veterans, help aging Filipino vets who fought for America in World War II and end contractor waste and fraud in Iraq.
But Akaka gained the most attention for his fight to pass legislation that carried his name.
The Hawaiian Recognition Bill, known widely as the Akaka Bill, was intended to give Native Hawaiians the same recognition as Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Opponents called it unconstitutional favoritism toward one race even though it had broad bipartisan support in Hawaii, a state where no ethnic group makes up the majority of residents. Even some Native Hawaiians expressed doubts, arguing it would give the federal government too much immunity from their claims regarding land or other issues.
Born in 1924, Akaka grew up in Honolulu, the youngest of eight children of a Native Hawaiian mother and a Hawaiian Chinese father.
Akaka is survived by his wife, Mary Mildred “Millie” Chong, four sons, a daughter and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.