Honolulu, Hawaii - U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement on the death of former U.S. Senator Hiram Leong Fong:

"I am deeply saddened by the passing of Hiram Fong. My thoughts and prayers are with Ellyn and the Fong ohana.

"Senator Fong was a man of great integrity and a compassionate advocate for civil rights and workers' rights. In the United States Senate, he personified the spirit of bipartisan cooperation as he worked with Republican and Democratic colleagues and Administrations to enact landmark civil rights legislation in the 1960s, reform U.S. immigration laws to end discrimination against Asian immigrants, improve job training programs for workers, and fight for equal pay for women. A self-made man who worked his way through elementary school, McKinley High, the University of Hawaii, and Harvard Law School, he fought for the rights of workers to organize in the 1940s, and supported worker rights over three decades of public service.

"I always welcomed the opportunity to talk story with him after he retired from the Senate and appreciated his mana'o. I will remember his twinkling smile and gentle sense of humor. Many of my colleagues who served with Hiram Fong in the Senate speak to me about him with great fondness and admiration. The people of Hawaii are truly fortunate that such a distinguished and upright gentleman dedicated much of his life to public service and represented our state so well in the U.S. Senate."