Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
U.S.A.
August 1, 2016
Hawai‘i Democratic congressman Mark Takai dies
By Cathy Bussewitz
The Associated Press
AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File
W
ASHINGTON — Representative Mark Takai, a
first-term Democrat from Hawai‘i, has passed
after battling cancer.
Takai, 49, died at home surrounded by his family. The
cause of death was pancreatic cancer, said Rod Tanonaka,
Takai’s chief of staff.
Born on Oahu, Takai served in the state House of
Representatives for 20 years before he was elected to
congress, first winning his statehouse seat at age 27. He
served as a longtime lieutenant colonel in the Hawai‘i
Army National Guard for more than a decade and was
deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi
Freedom. In congress, he sat on the Armed Services and
Natural Resources committees.
“Mark humbly and effectively served the people of his
state House and Congressional districts,” Hawai‘i
governor David Ige said in a statement. “In the often
tumultuous world of politics, he has been a shining
example of what it means to be a public servant.”
Takai was first diagnosed with cancer in October and
initially expressed optimism that he would recover. But in
May he announced he would not seek re-election after he
learned the cancer had spread.
Takai’s passing was mourned among his colleagues in
Hawai‘i and Washington, with politicians recalling his
gentle, kind nature.
“All of us were moved when he announced his cancer to
Vice President Biden and the members at the House
Democrats’ Issues Conference earlier this year,” said
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement. “Mark
confronted his diagnosis with the spirit we all hope we
would share when facing such an awful disease. As we
mourn the loss of our friend, we draw fresh resolve to find
cures.”
U.S. representative Tulsi Gabbard, who served with
Takai in congress, the Hawai‘i Army National Guard, and
the state legislature, said Takai had “a servant’s heart,
full of aloha.”
“No matter where he was, he always kept his service to
Hawai‘i’s people at the forefront of his actions,” Gabbard
said. “Mark’s smiling face and ready laugh will truly be
missed, but the impact that he made through his life of
service to the people of Hawai‘i will always be
remembered.”
Hawai‘i superintendent of schools Kathryn Matayoshi
remembered Takai as a staunch advocate for public
schools who pushed tirelessly for education funding and
resources.
POLITICIAN’S PASSING. House speaker John Boehner of Ohio
(right photo, far right) administers the oath to representative Mark Takai
(right photo, second from left), during a ceremonial re-enactment swear-
ing-in ceremony on January 6, 2015, in the Rayburn Room on Capitol
Hill in Washington, D.C. With them are Takai’s wife Sami and their two
children, Matthew and Kaila.
Takai is survived by his wife, Sami, and two children,
Matthew and Kaila. “The Takai family thanks the people
of Hawai‘i for their support during this difficult time,” said
a release by his office. His family requested privacy.
“This is the deepest of losses and one that I feel very
personally because of my friendship with Mark,” said U.S.
senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i). “Throughout his life, he
was all about serving the people of Hawai‘i. He gave so
much, and had so much more yet to give.”
Ige’s office was researching next steps to determine how
a replacement would be named, spokeswoman Jodi Leong
said.
The Hawai‘i Office of Elections will likely hold an
election in November for a replacement to serve the
remainder of Takai’s term, which would have ended in
January, said spokeswoman Nedielyn Bueno.
Bussewitz reported from Honolulu. AP writer Andrew
Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.
Father of fallen Muslim soldier blasts Trump at convention
New Owners
By Bradley Klapper
The Associated Press
ASHINGTON — The father of a Muslim-
American soldier killed in Iraq recently posed a
question to Donald Trump: Have you even read
the constitution?
To rapturous cheers, Pakistan-born Khizr Khan
fiercely attacked the billionaire businessman at the
Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, saying
that if it was up to Trump, his son never would have been
American or served in the military.
Khan said Hillary Clinton, by contrast, “called my son
the best of America.”
The address was the latest effort by Democrats to
highlight their diversity and criticize Trump’s most
contentious plans. Beyond his proposed wall across
Mexico, the billionaire businessman has threatened to
ban Muslims from entering the United States if he
becomes president.
Capt. Humayun Khan died in 2004 when a car loaded
with explosives blew up at his compound. He was 27 years
old.
Honoring his son, Khizr Khan pulled a copy of the
constitution out of his suit pocket and offered to lend it to
Trump.
“Look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of
law,’” he said while standing next to his wife, waving the
paperback document vigorously.
“Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery?” he then
asked. “Go look at the graves of brave Americans who died
defending United States of America. You will see all
faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed
nothing.”
Khan, who moved to the U.S. in 1980, said he and his
wife were “patriotic American Muslims with undivided
loyalty to our country.”
“Like many immigrants, we came to this country
emptyhanded,” he said, believing that with hard work he
could raise his three sons “in a nation where they were free
to be themselves and follow their dreams.”
Trump, Khan argued, was imperilling that ideal with
his smears of Muslims, women, judges, and other groups.
He urged Muslims, immigrants, and all patriots to “to
not take this election lightly.”
“Vote for the healer,” Khan said, “not the divider.”
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Khizr Khan, the father of fallen U.S. Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan,
holds up a copy of the constitution of the United States while his wife
listens during the final day of the Democratic National Convention
in Philadelphia, on July 28, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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