Sen. Daniel Inouye, who died on Monday, will lie in state for public viewing on Thursday in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, said the office of House Speaker John Boehner.
The Hawaii Democrat will become just the 31st person ever to receive this high level of recognition, according to information from the Architect of the Capitol, including presidents – such as Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan -- military figures, two U.S. Capitol Police officers killed in the line of duty in 1998, and civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. The last member of Congress so honored after dying while in office was Democrat Rep. Claude Pepper of Florida, in 1989, who had previously served as a senator.
Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, was the second-longest-serving U.S. senator in history, behind only the late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.. He died at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., from what was described as respiratory complications.
He had been a senator since 1963, and before that served in the House from when Hawaii became a state in 1959. At his death he was serving as the Senate Appropriations chairman.
Inouye also was one of 12 living Medal of Honor recipients from World War II, during which he lost an arm to a German grenade during a battle in Italy.
“Daniel Inouye’s life of service and sacrifice was dedicated to the preservation of democracy, so it is right and fitting that he will lie in state under one of its most enduring symbols, the Capitol Dome,” said Boehner, in a statement. “It will be our honor to join the American people in paying final respects to this great senator and statesman.”
Since 1865, according to the Architect of the Capitol, most such services at the Capitol have involved resting the casket atop the catafalque, or wooden platform, constructed for the coffin of Lincoln after his assassination.
Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.
Leave A Comment