Robert Takeo Matsui (松井 武男, September 17, 1941 – January 1, 2005) 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.
A third-generation Japanese American, Matsui was born in Sacramento, California, and was six months old when he and his family were taken...
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Robert Takeo Matsui (松井 武男, September 17, 1941 – January 1, 2005) 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.
A third-generation Japanese American, Matsui was born in Sacramento, California, 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.
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. He founded his own Sacramento law practice in 1967.
In 1971 Matsui was elected to the Sacramento City Council. He won re-election in 1975 and became vice mayor of the city in 1977. In the 1978 election, Matsui ran for the House and won.
In 1988, Matsui succeeded in helping pass the...
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