1. Robert Takeo Matsui was an American politician from the state of California.
16 Facts About Bob Matsui
1. 2.
Bob Matsui was a member of the Democratic Party and served in the US House of Representatives as the congressman for California's 5th congressional district from 1979 until his death at the end of his 13th term.
3.
The Robert T Matsui United States Courthouse in Sacramento is named in his honor.
4.
Bob Matsui founded his own Sacramento law practice in 1967.
5.
In 1971, Bob Matsui was elected to the Sacramento City Council.
6.
Bob Matsui won re-election in 1975 and became vice mayor of the city in 1977.
7.
In 1978, Matsui ran for the Democratic nomination in what was then the 3rd district after 12-term incumbent John E Moss announced his retirement.
8.
Bob Matsui defeated Republican Sandy Smoley with 53 percent of the vote.
9.
Bob Matsui was reelected in 1982 with no major-party opposition, and was unopposed in 1984.
10.
Bob Matsui's district was renumbered as the 5th district after the 1990 census.
11.
In 1988, Bob Matsui succeeded in helping pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which produced an official apology from the Federal government for the World War II internment program and offered token compensation to victims.
12.
Bob Matsui was instrumental in the designation of Manzanar internment camp as a national historic site and in obtaining land in Washington, DC for the memorial to Japanese-American patriotism in World War II.
13.
Bob Matsui was a chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, ranking member of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, and third-ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee.
14.
Bob Matsui had a mostly liberal voting record having opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, the ban on partial-birth abortions, and the Private Securities and Litigations Reform Act.
15.
Bob Matsui was married to Doris Okada who, until December 1998, worked as deputy assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison for President Bill Clinton, leaving to become senior advisor and director of government relations at the firm of Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC before winning election to her late husband's seat.
16.
On December 24,2004, Bob Matsui entered Bethesda Naval Hospital with pneumonia.