<Begin Segment 18>

TI: So what else? Anything else that I haven't asked you about, about that time period that you think is significant? We've talked about a lot of things, there were a couple more, I can't remember. But anything else that you can think of?

FS: Well, you know when we talk about redress, let me mention something that isn't too well-known. We had a lot of friends in the Congress. Congressman Peter Rodino, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was one of our strongest supporters. Why was that? Because he was a good friend of Dr. Ray Murakami.

TI: Oh, yeah, I remember this story. Yeah, tell the story.

FS: Ray Murakami was his dentist, and he, of course, Peter Rodino, would sit in his chair getting his teeth fixed, and they'd always have discussions and this and that. So shortly after I became...

TI: [Takes papers] It's kind of crinkling.

FS: Shortly after I became national president, Ray calls me up and he said, "Hey, I talked to Peter, and he wants to meet with you." So I says, "Oh, okay. Congressman Rodino, that first meeting -- and I had about five dinner meetings with him -- he said to me, "Frank, I want you to know that I was the first Italian," the way he'd say, "first Italian American Congressman, and it was pretty lonely. And I know what you guys are going through." He says, "I want you to know that you have my support. And on this redress bill, when you guys are ready, you tell me," and he says, "I'll get it on the House floor." How powerful a remark is that? So what happens is I'd keep Congressman Rodino kind of read up on where we stood on redress bill. And so I remember the final dinner meeting, our JACL staff told me, Ron Wakabayashi says, "Hey, I think we got enough votes." So I called up Ray and I said, "Ray, get a meeting set up with Peter." We met again at the Hyatt Hotel, we'd always meet in (Hyatt), Crystal City. And it was a real nice meeting, and I told Congressman Rodino, "I think we've got the votes, we'd appreciate your help in getting this." And he said, "Frank, don't worry about it, we'll get it there." Sure enough, the next week, it went on the House floor, passed and went on to the Senate. You know, I can't say enough about guys like Ray Murakami. Ray, from right at the get-go, he had told me, "You got to get to know Congressman Rodino." He's Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee over the Barney Frank committee and all those guys. You know, those guys in the subcommittee can do whatever they want, but if the chairman doesn't do it, it ain't gonna happen. These are some of the kinds of connections that helped us along the way, and let me tell you, it's really a blessing that we had people like Ray Murakami. And I can't tell you enough about guys like Ron Ikejiri and his help. I'll give you some more about that in just a minute, but Ron Wakabayashi, you know, I see JACL give honors to people all deserving, Ron Wakabayashi was one of the best. That guy had an acute understanding of the JACL and the people to help bring us all together. I can't really say enough about him.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2017 Densho. All Rights Reserved.