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Inouye To Take Over Senate's Most Powerful Committee
Sen. Byrd Steps Down From Chairmanship After 10 Years
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27597643/
HONOLULU - Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye on Friday learned he will be given the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee after the current leader stepped down from the U.S. Senate's most powerful committee in Congress.
Inouye takes over for Sen. Robert Byrd, who led the committee for the past 10 years. Byrd is the Senate's longest-serving senator. Byrd turns 92 later this month.
He will officially take over the position on Nov. 18 when the Democrats meet in caucus.
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"Senator Daniel Inouye has stood in line for many years and now his time has come. He is my friend. He is a genuine American hero. He will be a skillful and fair Chairman of the Appropriations Committee because he is a man of outstanding character and great wisdom," Byrd said in a written statement.
Inouye would lead the committee that holds the purse strings of the government.
The 90-year-old West Virginia Democrat has become increasingly frail in recent years, so the move didn't come as a surprise. Democratic leaders had sent signals that they hoped Byrd would step aside to make room for more active leadership on the panel, which is among the most important in Congress for its control over federal agencies' budgets.
Byrd has used the post to send billions of federal dollars to his state -- for roads, universities and economic development projects.
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie earlier said that if Barack Obama were president and Inouye appropriations chair, it would be enormous for the state.
For the people of Hawaii, the clear benefit of Inouye's new leadership position is the state could received needed appropriations quicker whether it be to protect endangered Hawaiian monk seals, helping build the state's tourism industry or getting more federal money for Oahu's $5 billion rail transit system.
"President Obama and Sen. Inouye understand our needs out here in the pacific and will respond," Abercrombie said.
"It will be huge for rail and also for other projects the city is looking for congressional funding for," Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.
The change in government means the positions considered to be the world's most powerful leader and the Senate's most powerful legislator are Hawaii-born.
Obama's presidential campaign and now the change in the Senate have placed the spotlight on Hawaii.