美國聯邦參議員丹尼爾井上病逝享年88歲

The longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate and the man who was third in line for the presidency, Hawaii's Daniel Inouye, has died. He was 88 years old.

Inouye, a decorated World War II veteran, had been hospitalized in Washington since December 6, when he fainted in his office at the U.S. Capitol. His death on Monday was attributed to respiratory complications.

Senate Majority Leader and fellow Democrat Harry Reid announced Inouye's death on the floor of the Senate.

In a written statement, President Barack Obama said the country had "lost a true American hero." Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called Inouye "an iconic political figure" who "had every reason to call attention to himself but who never did."

At the time of his death, Inouye was the Senate's president pro tempore, the designation for the person who is third in line for the presidency after the vice president and the speaker of the House of Representatives. Inouye also chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

When Hawaii became a state in 1959, Inouye was elected the first representative from the state, and was reelected to a full term in 1960. He was first elected to the Senate in 1962 and was serving his ninth consecutive term.

He was one of the most influential Democratic senators on Capitol Hill.美國參議院任期最長、來自夏威夷州的參議員丹尼爾.井上逝世，享年88歲。他在美國繼任總統的排名中名列第3位。

井上參議員是榮獲過戰功的二戰老兵，今年12月6日在國會辦公室內昏倒後一直住院治療。星期一，他因呼吸系統併發症過世。

同爲民主黨的參議院多數黨領袖裏德參議員在參議院宣佈了他去世的消息。

奧巴馬總統發表書面聲明說，美國“失去了一位真正的美國英雄”。參議院共和黨領袖麥康奈爾稱讚他是位“偶像式政治人物”，“有所有的理由炫耀自己但卻從來沒有”。

在去世時，井上參議員是參議院的臨時議長，是排在副總統和衆議院議長之後的第三位可以繼任總統的人選。他還擔任權力很大的參議院撥款委員會的主席，是民主黨最有影響的參議員之一。

夏威夷1959年成爲美國一個州時，井上先生被選爲夏威夷首位衆議員，1960年競選連任一個完整任期。1962年，他首次當選參議員，去世時在連任第9個任期。

井上參議員是民主黨最有影響的參議員之一