"I've never met a man or woman in that period with as much physical and moral courage as Daniel Inouye," Biden said, referring to his years in the Senate. "I never met a man with as much loyalty to his country, to his family and to his friends."

After Inouye became Hawaii's first congressman following statehood in 1959, he won election to the Senate in 1962. He was the first Japanese-American elected to both the House and Senate and was serving his ninth term in the Senate when he died. As a legislator, his specialty was steering federal money to his home state to develop the kinds of roads, schools and housing other Americans had on the mainland.

Inouye's body will be escorted Friday to the Washington National Cathedral and will be returned to Hawaii on Saturday.