Sen. Daniel Akaka (D) Appointed May 1990, 2d full term up 2006
Born:	Sept. 11, 1924, Honolulu
Home:	Honolulu
Education:	U. of HI, B.Ed. 1952, M.A. 1966
Religion:	Congregationalist
Marital Status:	married (Mary Mildred)
Elected  Office:	U.S. House of Reps., 1976-90.
Military Career:	Army Corps of Engineers, 1945-47 (WWII).
Professional Career:	Public schl. teacher, principal & admin., 1953-71; Dir., HI Office of Econ. Oppor., 1971-74; Asst., HI Gov. Ariyoshi, 1975-76; Dir., Progressive Neighborhoods Program, 1975-76.
DC Office	141 HSOB20510, 202-224-6361; Fax: 202-224-2126; Web site: akaka.senate.gov
State Offices	Hilo, 808-935-1114; Honolulu, 808-522-8970.
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Daniel Akaka is the first senator of Native Hawaiian descent and Hawaii's second senator of Chinese descent. Born four days after Daniel Inouye, he served in the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s, went to college, taught school and became a principal. In 1971, at 47, he became director of the Hawaii antipoverty program; in 1975, he became an assistant to Governor George Ariyoshi. The next year, when both of Hawaii's congressmen ran for the Senate, he was elected to the House, where he served quietly on the Appropriations Committee. In May 1990, after the death of Senator Spark Matsunaga, Governor John Waihee appointed Akaka to the Senate. He has thus been an integral part of the dominant Democratic organization and a quiet but diligent worker on Hawaii issues for nearly 30 years.

Akaka, though a member of Congress since 1976, is not well known in Washington. ''I do much of my work with members in committees,'' he said. ''I do it that way because it works, it's where you find out whether you have heavy opposition, which could cause you to change tactics or not even bring [the issue] up.'' Akaka has a mostly liberal voting record, somewhat less so on foreign and defense issues; he and Inouye were two of the four Democrats supporting deployment of a ballistic missile defense system in 1998. Hawaii, out in the Pacific, is much more vulnerable to North Korean missiles than the U.S. mainland.

Much of Akaka's time has been spent on the issue of Native Hawaiian sovereignty. He was the sponsor of the 1993 Apology Resolution, signed by Bill Clinton, in which the United States acknowledged as illegal the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 and the denial of Native Hawaiians' right to self-determination. In 1998 and 1999 he pushed the Clinton administration to recognize Native Hawaiians as an aboriginal people with whom the U.S. has a special relationship, as it does with Indian tribes. But in February 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Hawaii Constitution provision limiting voting for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to those of Native Hawaiian descent was unconstitutional racial discrimination; the Clinton administration assertion of a special relationship was rejected. Other lawsuits were brought against OHA activities. In response, in July 2000 Akaka introduced a native recognition bill, which would recognize Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people with a right to self-determination and set up a process for formation of a Native Hawaiian governing body to have, as many Indian tribes do, a government-to-government relationship with the United States. Thanks to the energetic efforts of Congressman Neil Abercrombie, this passed the House in September 2000. But in the Senate some Republicans objected to unanimous consent, and it died there in December. Akaka brought the bill up again in 2001 and it was passed by Inouye's Indian Affairs Committee in July. It had passed the House committee in May 2001, but House Republican leaders refused to bring it to the floor. In the Senate, Akaka had lobbying help from Alaska Native and American Indian groups, but a hold was placed on the bill by a Republican perhaps influenced by the opposition of some Native Hawaiians, who argue that it would make them wards of the government.

In April 2004 the bill, with some changes, was approved by the Indian Affairs Committee, but again faced a hold, apparently by Jon Kyl of Arizona. Akaka tried to attach it to the class action bill in June and July, but Majority Leader Bill Frist would not allow non-germane amendments. Akaka protested, "This we consider a bipartisan bill. Our governor supports it. Our state legislature supports it and the majority of our citizens support it. It is effectively blocked by a few senators who refused to acknowledge Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people." The House Resources Committee voted unanimously for the bill in September. Akaka's colleague Daniel Inouye put it on an appropriation as an amendment. But Kyl was vigorous in his opposition. "Persons of different races, who live together in the same society, would be subject to different legal codes. This would not produce racial reconciliation in Hawaii. Instead, it is a recipe of permanent racial conflict." In October Akaka and Inouye agreed to drop the bill in return for a promise, made by Frist and Kyl as well, that the bill would come to the floor before August 7, 2005.

Other Akaka causes include the 1995 law for a review of World War II service records with a view to awarding higher medals to deserving Asian Americans (under this, Senator Daniel Inouye was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2000), a law making permanent the waiver of visa requirements from certain countries including Japan (2 million Japanese visit Hawaii every year). He pushed through a doubling of Puluhonua O Honauna National Historical Park on the Big Island. He has taken a lead role on the 1989 and 1994 laws to protect whistleblowers in government and in 2001 and 2004 co-sponsored others to overturn what he thought were incorrect court decisions. With Susan Collins, he sponsored the successful move to enhance dental and vision benefits for federal employees; they also sponsored a bill to allow federal employees to switch their investments in the Thrift Savings Plan at any time, not just during open seasons. After disclosure of irregular practices by mutual funds in 2003, Akaka co-sponsored a bill requiring disclosure of brokerage commissions and requiring them to be counted in the expense ratios of funds; it also required that 75% of their boards be independent of management. He approved when the SEC required independent directors in 2004. He and George Allen sponsored a bill for $2 million for economics education in public schools. He was one of the nine senators (Inouye was another) voting against the homeland security bill in November 2002, arguing that it gave the government too much power to compile information about citizens and failed to protect the rights of whistleblowers. He supported oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, perhaps out of solidarity with colleagues from Alaska, who like Hawaiians often feel resentment that policy is made for their states by mainlanders who have little knowledge and understanding of their needs.

Akaka had one tough election in 1990--indeed the only Senate election in Hawaii that has generated any suspense since 1976. His opponent, Republican Congresswoman Pat Saiki, conceded that Akaka was congenial, but suggested he was ineffective and not too bright. Akaka struck back with ads attacking drugs and his work to end the use of the island of Kahoolawe as a target range. The Democratic organization worked hard; Akaka won 54%-45%. Akaka was reelected by 72%-24% in 1994 and by 73%-25% in 2000. In 2004 he said he expected to run for reelection in 2006, when he turns 82. Akaka hailed the election in 2004 in Illinois of Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii and spent part of his childhood there. When Obama visited Honolulu Akaka said, "I like to think of him as a member of our delegation."

Committees

• Armed Services: Airland; Personnel; Readiness & Management Support (RMM).
• Energy & Natural Resources: Energy; National Parks (RMM); Public Lands & Forests.
• Ethics (Select).
• Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs: Federal Financial Management, Govt. Information & International Security; Investigations (Permanent); Oversight of Govt. Management, the Federal Workforce & the District of Columbia (RMM).
• Indian Affairs.
• Veterans' Affairs (RMM).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	95	75	100	100	42	10	29	5	5	0	--
2003	90	--	100	84	--	16	30	15	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	68%	--	30%		90%	--	7%
Social	79%	--	15%		82%	--	0%
Foreign	79%	--	14%		99%	--	0%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Ban Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. Energy Bill N 6. Support Roe v. Wade Y		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion N  8. Assault Weapons Ban Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Ban Bunker-Buster Bomb Y 11. Fund Iraq War Y 12. Restrict Missile Defense Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2000 general	Daniel Akaka (D)	251,215	73%	$428,516
	John Carroll (R)	84,701	25%	$97,407
	Other	9,707	3%
2000 primary	Daniel Akaka (D)	13,857	91%
	Art P. Reyes (D)	1,317	9%
1994 general	Daniel Akaka (D)	256,189	72%	$1,017,872
	Maria M. Hustace (R)	86,320	24%	$29,293
	Richard O. Rowland (Lib)	14,393	4%
Prior winning percentages: 1990 (54%); 1988 House (89%); 1986 House (76%); 1984 House (82%); 1982 House (89%); 1980 House (90%); 1978 House (86%); 1976 House (80%)