Inouye wants 'to finish the work'

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The image was striking. U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, stone-faced, wearing a crisp dark suit, walking alongside his colleague, U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, in a headdress and tribal clothing.

Inouye

Cavasso

As the first Japanese-American in Congress, Inouye long has been a symbol of diversity, and his advocacy for Native Americans made him a natural to join Campbell, R-Colo., at the front. But Inouye has also become among the most adept lawmakers at mastering the legislative process, especially when it comes to securing federal money, and it was his work over 15 years that helped lead to the museum's creation.

Now seeking his eighth term in the U.S. Senate, Inouye is still famously reluctant to discuss his power. But as the third most senior member of the Senate, and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, he is in a unique position to steer millions of federal dollars to Hawai'i each year.

Inouye also is poised to become the ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, perhaps even its chairman, if Democrats retake power in the Senate in the November elections. The post would put him in an even stronger position to direct money and projects to Hawai'i.

"I'm not suggesting I'm indispensible," Inouye said, adding that he wants to keep working as long as he's healthy. "I want to finish the work as much as possible."

Inouye won 76 percent of the vote when he was re-elected in 1998 and his $2.6 million campaign war chest discouraged Republicans from aggressively targeting the senator.

His Republican opponent this year, former state lawmaker Cam Cavasso of Waimanalo, said he decided to run in July after Inouye voted against a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Cavasso had raised about $6,450 at the end of August and his campaign advertising has concentrated on messages against abortion.

"I believe in the sacred value of life," said Cavasso, an insurance agent. "Dan Inouye has led us down the wrong path, culturally and economically."

Jeff Mallan, a Libertarian candidate, and Jim Brewer, a nonpartisan candidate, are also challenging Inouye.

Cavasso, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2002, said Inouye has made Hawai'i too dependent on the federal government. He said he would try to attract federal dollars as seed money to help position Hawai'i as a technology center and a bridge between Asia and the Mainland.

Relying too much on federal money becomes a trap, he said. "It traps us into the welfare mentality of 'Give me, give me, give me.' "

Cavasso also said that, unlike Inouye, he would have supported President Bush's tax cuts and his decision to go to war in Iraq. "I am giving voters an alternative on all fronts," the Army veteran said.

Cavasso said he wants a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman only, similar to an amendment approved by Hawai'i voters in 1998. He said the amendment would prevent courts from accepting the "culturally destructive homosexual agenda."

"You must not allow rogue judges to create their own law," Cavasso said.

Votes to approve a gay marriage amendment to the Constitution failed in the U.S. House and Senate this year.

Inouye, in his campaign commercials, has reminded voters of his success at getting money for Hawai'i.

He helped lure the new Stryker brigade to the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks and is working to persuade the Navy to move an aircraft carrier to Hawai'i. Each year, he helps secure millions of federal dollars for the military, the University of Hawai'i, Native Hawaiian programs, and agricultural, environmental and transportation projects.

Last year, Inouye, working with U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, helped obtain a federal exemption so Norwegian Cruise Line could offer inter-

island cruises on foreign-built ships under U.S. flags, which is expected to bring new jobs and an economic boost to the Islands.

The senator said one of his goals, if re-elected, is to promote more economic growth on the Neighbor Islands.

But the measure of Inouye's power is not just money.

Over the past week, Inouye used his leverage to help get a key opponent of the Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to give up using procedural roadblocks that have stalled the bill since 2000. Inouye indicated he would attempt to sink bills important to Kyl and other Republicans, a tactic that led Senate leaders to promise a vote on the Native Hawaiian bill next year.

Some community and business leaders — and Inouye — have already discussed the need to look beyond the senator for federal support and prepare for when he is no longer in office.

"He's incredibly valuable. But all of us who have depended on him know that it's important to diversify political support," said Charles Morrison, the president of the East-West Center. "If anyone takes that money for granted they may be in for a rude awakening."

The two senators who outrank Inouye, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., have larger national profiles. Byrd has become the Senate's unofficial historian and is known for his colorful floor speeches. Kennedy is among the nation's leading liberal voices and is a force in party strategy.

Inouye is known more for his behind-the-scenes skills. It is relatively rare to see him speaking on the floor or publicly involved in a national debate, and he avoids the talk-show circuit.

The Medal of Honor winner, who lost his right arm in combat during World War II, voted against giving Bush the authority to use force in Iraq and was one of the senators who called for more diplomacy in the days leading up to the invasion. He said he does not feel vindicated now that more people have questioned the president's decisions on Iraq.

But he said he is disappointed that the administration has not re-evaluated its assumptions. No weapons of mass destruction, the main justification for war, were found, and some civilian and military officials have asked whether there are enough troops to preserve order during the transition to a new government.

"That's one of the weaknesses of this administration," Inouye said. "They never stop and say, 'Maybe we were wrong.' "

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.