U.S. Rep. Ed Case took to the House floor on Monday to urge his fellow representatives to vote in favor of Senate Bill 1760, which would name the soon-to-be community outpatient clinic at the Department of Veterans Affairs In Kalaeloa in honor of the late Sen. Daniel K. Akaka.

What You Need To Know

  • Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, introduced the bill

  • Case’s Hawaii colleague, Rep. Kai Kahele, introduced a companion measure in the House

  • Akaka served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in World War II

  • Akaka went on to represent Hawaii in Congress, in both the House and Senate, for 25 years

Case traced Akaka’s rise from his service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in World War II, supporting the definitive island-hopping campaign that helped to bring an end to the war in the Pacific, to his groundbreaking time in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1991 and the first Native Hawaiian senator from 1991 to 2002.

“Sen. Akaka carried his pride and passion and commitment to our nations’ veterans into his work in Congress,” Case said. “As a member and chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, he produced an unmatched record of progress on health care, compensation and other benefits for veterans, including crafting the new veteran’s G.I. Bill in congress to ensure more education benefits for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“And in this AAPI Heritage Month, it is fitting to recognize his work focusing on specific issues affecting our Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander veterans,” he said. “The importance of the (Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access) project to our veteran ohana, or family, throughout Hawaii and the Pacific cannot be overstated.”

The facility is expected to be completed in late 2023.

Case said it will help to relieve pressure on veterans health care system in Hawaii, which serves some 110,000 veterans, and alleviate logistical and capacity challenges at Tripler Army Medical Center and the Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center.

If the measure passes, the facility will be called the Daniel Kahikina Akaka Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic or Daniel Kahikina Akaka VA Clinic, for short.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii.