Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., found a surprise in a Senate floor desk drawer shortly after being sworn in as the state’s first Asian American senator.
He found that he was sitting at a desk etched with the name of an Asian American trailblazer: Daniel K. Inouye, a former senator who became the first Japanese American elected to Congress.
Inouye became Hawaii’s first congressman after it became a state, and served in the army during World War II — enlisting shortly after the strike on Pearl Harbor.
“I learned Senate floor desks have drawers where every Senator who used that desk carves their name,” Kim wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “I just pulled out my drawer. 1 name jumped out.”
Inouye died in 2012 at the age of 88. After he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he became the first and only U.S. senator to be the recipient of both the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor.
“WWII Medal of Honor. Senator for ~ 50 yrs. AAPI trailblazer,” Kim wrote of Inouye.
Inouye was the second-longest serving senator, representing Hawaii for 49 years. Hawaii’s largest airport was renamed after the Honolulu native in 2017, according to Hawaii’s Transportation Department.
Kim, the first Korean American senator, represented New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District before defeating Republican Curtis Bashaw to win the seat of former Sen. Bob Menendez. Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the state, with the number of their voters surging 99% from 2000 to 2022.
“I cannot believe I get to sit at the desk of a hero of mine,” Kim said.