| Robert Matsui | |
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| In office 1979 - 1993 (3rd), 1993 - 2005 (5th) |
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| Preceded by | John E. Moss (3rd) Nancy Pelosi (5th) |
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| Succeeded by | Victor H. Fazio (3rd) Doris Matsui (5th) |
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| Born | September 17, 1941 Sacramento, California |
| Died | January 1, 2005 (aged 63) Bethesda, Maryland |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Doris Matsui |
Robert Takeo Matsui (松井 武男, September 17, 1941 – January 1, 2005[1]) was an American politician from the state of California. Matsui was a member of the Democratic Party and served 13 terms (although elected to 14) in the U.S. House of Representatives as the congressman for California's 5th congressional district.[1][2]
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A third-generation Japanese American, Matsui was born in Sacramento, California,[1] and was six months old when he and his family were taken from Sacramento and interned by the U.S. government at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in 1942.[3]
Matsui graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963 with a BA in political science, and then graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1966.[1] He founded his own Sacramento law practice in 1967.[3]
In 1971 Matsui was elected to the Sacramento City Council.[3] He won re-election in 1975 and became vice mayor of the city in 1977.[3] In the 1978 election, Matsui ran for the House and won.[3]
In 1988, Matsui succeeded in helping pass the Japanese-American Redress Act, which produced an official apology from the Federal government for the World War II internment program and offered token compensation to victims. He was also instrumental in the designation of Manzanar internment camp as a national historic site and in obtaining land in Washington, D.C. for the memorial to Japanese-American patriotism in World War II.
He was a chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, ranking member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, and third-ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. During his term he was noted for his staunch opposition to privatization of Social Security. He 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.
In the 2004 federal election, he faced Republican Mike Dugas as his strongest opponent in the general election for the 5th congressional district. Matsui was re-elected to office with 71.4% of the vote, compared to Dugas' 23.4%. Green Party opponent Pat Driscoll and John Reiger of the Peace and Freedom Party won 3.4% and 1.8% of the vote, respectively.[4] (DCCC chairs are chosen in part because they are not expected to face serious competition for re-election.)
He was married to the former Doris Okada, who is senior advisor and director of government relations at the firm of Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC. Until December 1998, Doris Matsui worked as deputy assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison for President Bill Clinton. The Matsuis had one son, Brian, who received his undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University.
Matsui entered Bethesda Naval Hospital on December 24, 2004 with pneumonia.[2] It was a complication from Myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare stem cell disorder that causes an inability of the bone marrow to produce blood products, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. He died on January 1, 2005, at 10:10 p.m. EDT.
In the special election held on March 8, 2005 to fill the vacant 5th Congressional District seat, Matsui's widow Doris won with more than 68 percent of the vote.[5] She was sworn in on March 10, 2005.[6]
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John E. Moss |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 3rd congressional district 1979–1993 |
Succeeded by Victor H. Fazio |
| Preceded by Nancy Pelosi |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 5th congressional district 1993–2005 |
Succeeded by Doris Matsui |
   | General Election results, U.S. Congressional district 5 - CA Secretary of State - General Election- U.S. Congress District 5 - Districtwide |
| | Campaign finance data from the 2004 election - Robert T. Matsui: Campaign Finance/Money - Summary - 2004 | OpenSecrets |
| | Entry in the Congressional Biographical Dictionary - MATSUI, Robert Takeo - Biographical Information |
| | Congressman dies of rare disease - CNN.com - Congressman dies of rare disease - Jan 2, 2005 |
| | Doris Matsui's official biography - The Online Office of Congresswoman Doris Matsui - Home |
| | Official website - The Online Office of Congresswoman Doris Matsui - Home |
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