Robert Takeo "Bob" Matsui (17 September 1941-1 January 2005) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-CA 3) from 3 January 1979 to 3 January 1993, succeeding John E. Moss and preceding Victor H. Fazio, and from CA 5 from 3 January 1993 to 1 January 2005, succeeding Nancy Pelosi and preceding Doris Matsui.
Biography[]
Robert Takeo Matsui was born in Sacramento, California on 17 September 1941, and his Japanese-American family was interned at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center during World War II. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1963 and founded his own Sacramento law practice in 1967 before being elected to the City Council in 1971. In 1977, he became Vice Mayor, and he was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1978. In 1988, he assisted in passing an act which produced an official apology from the federal government for Japanese-American internment, and he opposed the privatization of Social Security, the Defense of Marriage Act, the ban on partial-birth abortions, and the Private Securities and Litigations Reform Act. In 2004, he fell ill with pneumonia, and he died on New Year's Day of 2005. His wife Doris Matsui ran to succeed him, and she won her late husband's seat with over 68% of the vote.