Amata Honors the Life of Senator Inhofe

Washington, D.C. –Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is honoring the life of Senator James Inhofe, who retired from the U.S. Senate in January 2023.

“Senator Jim Inhofe was Oklahoma’s longest-serving senator, in the Senate more than 27 years, after he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for four terms. Before that he was Mayor of Tulsa, and a state legislator totaling some 56 years of public service, after time in the U.S. Army. I knew him already in the 1990s, as I worked for Congressman J.C. Watts, his colleague from the Oklahoma congressional delegation,” said Aumua Amata. “He came through American Samoa with a congressional delegation a few years ago, and I spoke to him there and after he came back to Washington, D.C. at the time.”

“As a senior senator, he served as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee with oversight of the Pentagon. As Acting Chairman during Senator John McCain’s illness, Senator Inhofe led the John McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2019, which was a then-record investment in our national defense and military personnel,” she continued. “Early in his career he honored his state’s veterans and service members with an influential role in bringing the retired World War II submarine USS Batfish, which served in the Pacific, upriver to Oklahoma as the centerpiece of a Veterans Memorial Park.”

“He was a pilot and enjoyed flying aircraft for many decades, and was honored with the U.S. Air Force Academy's Character and Leadership Award in 2013. I extend condolences and prayers to his family and friends, and the people of Oklahoma.”

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