<Begin Segment 6>

EK: Were you involved with the first check presentation ceremonies?

AG: So I was not. I came after. That was Dick Thornbush... Thornburgh, Richard Thornburgh, he was the AG (Attorney General) at the time. I came to the department after, because that would have been in October of '90, and I came in January of '91, so I missed that first one. But I would say, even coming in as a new employee, there was still a buzz, just because people just felt so good. And one of things about the staff at the time, we were a United Nations. I mean, you had everybody... and everybody from all four corners. You may have had African Americans, you had Caucasian Americans, you had Asian Americans who did and did not have an association. We had Indian Americans from the continent India, and even in terms of when I think about what helps me as a manager today, it was that experience of having all different types of people and getting everybody... how do you set goals for a team? You definitely saw that in terms of the verification units and how outside, you may have some sect issues here, but you know what? 1331 F Street, this is what we're doing, and this is how we're getting it done. But there was definitely a buzz and an energy, and people were feeling very proud about having really made an apology. And it was the first time I think that the rest of the world, particularly on my side, the East Coast, learned about the internment camps. Because there was nothing on the East Coast. Chicago tends to be... I think back on where were we mailing stuff to, you had a random New Jersey, a random Connecticut, but it really was on the left half of the Mississippi, Chicago, Utah, Arizona, California. But I think that that effort really helped people to understand the country can really do a horrible thing, but can get it right, or can make an attempt. Because I'm sure there are people, I don't know that we had any... I don't know who was the oldest living recipient at this minute, but their children are still here, and so their families know the history if they chose to share it.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2019 Emi Kuboyama. All Rights Reserved.