<Begin Segment 22>

BF: Seattle really got quite an education and a lot of practice then?

CK: I think what that did -- you know, that school clerk one -- we got press, really good media coverage, you know. And all of these events -- the hearing, the state bill, the school clerks bill -- each time we got press media coverage. So in that way, I think Seattle was fortunate in that they realized and they were more aware, you know, of the whole redress movement. And I think, too, they were aware of the role that JACL played. Because Southern Cal, you know, they don't think that JACL did anything. Whereas here, they realize the great, you know, that JACL was a spearhead for a lot of this. So... so then after the...

BF: So then, by this time, had the recommendations and the findings come out?

CK: Yeah. Because they came out in '83. So this was sort of going concurrently because we had to turn to, we've gotta lobby for the national bill, too. And so we went, doing... on that it was a matter of, I called Ruthann and said, "How do you go about this for the national?" I mean, we'd done some local, but... so she gave me some tips about when you can catch them, when they're back in their district and that's when I said, well, might as well start at the top. And I got Tom Foley's phone number in Washington. So I just picked up the phone. I'd never done this before and directly called Washington, D.C. and called Tom Foley's office and I got an aide who was called, I remember his name, Thad Lightfoot. [Interruption] He listened to me and then he (said), "I think you'd better talk to Heather Foley," which is his wife, Thomas Foley's wife, who was his administrative assistant. And she listened to me -- see, Mike Lowry's bill was in Congress then, because we started the national lobbying as soon as Mike's bill... see, the recommendation came out and Mike submitted his second bill. His first bill died and then when the recommendations came out in '83, Mike submitted this second bill immediately and this is what...

BF: In line with the recommendations.

CK: Yeah, right. And so this is where we started lobbying. And so we were a little ahead of the national, it took quite a while to get going on that. But, so getting back to Tom Foley, she must have been familiar with, Tom Foley must have been familiar with Mike Lowry's bill because she didn't ask that many questions, but she said, okay, she would talk to Tom Foley. He was in the hospital at that time with some minor surgery so I couldn't talk to him directly. And she talked to him and came back, called me and she asked a question, I cannot remember what that question was, but it was something to clarify the bill and I answered it and she went and told him and then called a second time back and said, "Yes, he will support the bill and sign onto Mike Lowry's bill." So I thought hey, this is easy. [Laughs] This is not bad at all, and I felt so good to have that.

BF: Do remember what your, how you would start? Would you always start with a personal story of how you personally were interned or did you have a strategy for how you would... because a lot of times they'll only give a few minutes.

CK: A few minutes, right.

BF: What would you say?

CK: I did so many different things. It's hard to pinpoint one. 'Cause you know, I'd try one way and usually, you start out, "Do you know there is a bill in Congress," or like on the state level, "Do you know that a vote is coming up on the committee for this bill?" And, "If you have any questions about the bill..." You know, I put it that way so then, it's up to them to ask me. I don't want to force it on them. And so that was one of the tactics I used. But as I say, I think Heather Foley knew the bill and Tom Foley knew the bill. But anyway, that was the first success and then that's when I thought, "Hey, this is a snap." [Laughs] But then following that was Brock Adams, who is always supportive. Brock Adams had supported Henry way back when Henry first had his plan. So he was -- and I caught him at a fundraising thing at Nobi Chan's house. And at that time -- that's another good thing to do, is to catch 'em on the campaign trail when they're talking before people and then you put the question, "Will you support this?" and they have to answer in front of people and if they do even halfway commit, then you follow up and say, "You did say this." So Brock Adams said immediately, he would support it. And then later I would go back and ask for a letter or something to commit. John Miller was the same. I caught him at a fundraiser. And so these people who were supportive, we could initially get and we got those on early. Then those who signed on to Mike Lowry's bill -- then Mike gave way to Jim Wright and Mineta's bill -- and so all the forty-some that Ruthann had gotten plus the few, they all signed over to the Wright/Mineta bill, so that was a nice little chunk.

BF: So you kind of gave them a little step ahead of the process.

CK: Right, uh-huh.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.