WASHINGTON -
Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont is now third in the line of presidential succession.
The Senate late Monday passed a resolution approving Leahy as president pro tempore. He would replace Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, who died Monday.
The seven-term Leahy would be third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and the speaker of the House.
Leahy also is in line to replace Inouye as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The 72-year-old Leahy currently is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Press release from Senator Leahy on the death of Senator Inouye:
Senator Inouye was the best of the ideals and the great promise of the nation that he loved and served so valiantly. What better role model for public service could any American ask for.
What a remarkable life he led. A veteran of World War II and the Greatest Generation, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. A pioneer who helped forge Hawaii's emergence as a state, he was his beloved home's first member of Congress.
We worked together on so many matters, large and small, and over so many years that it would be difficult to catalogue that list. For decades I have sat at the desk he inscribed, and he escorted me to the well of the Senate to be sworn in for my current term.
A man of few words, most importantly he was a man of his word.
I have always admired his diligence, his character and his willing bipartisanship as a legislator.
I will always cherish memories of his grace, his kindness and his friendship.
