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EK: So you've touched upon this throughout the interview, but I was wondering, in your broad experience, what's unique about what happened at ORA or the way that DOJ kind of handled this?

JC: We really felt our mission. We knew it wasn't a piece of paper, we knew it wasn't an entry in a computer system. It wasn't about us and it wasn't about our achievements, although we achieved a lot, I mean, we were able to verify people within five years of the program, half the timeframe, which then allowed us to really focus on the people who didn't fit neatly within the requirements. And we didn't close the door. That year of August 1998, August 10th, we waited 'til the bitter end because we just didn't, again, want to leave any rocks unturned. It was about the mission and the people. We told the stories, especially with the contractors who were not, they didn't go out to the community outreach programs. We came back and told them stories of what we were, who we were working with and what we were doing and why it was so important. And they felt it, it was palatable. It was a palatable mission, we were dealing with people, we were dealing with people who were senior citizens, and we needed to right a wrong in government. So it was that message over and over again, we had signs up with regards to what that message was. We brought back letters from individuals, and even the people who were working on the verification process, whether they were federal employee or contractor, also received letters. So although maybe the contractors weren't able to go out in the field, they received thank you notes from people, and it meant something. So passion went both ways. We were passionate about what we were doing, and the community leaders and the people, ordinary people, who wanted to help their neighbors, were passionate about seeing justice served. So it was just a great experience.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2019 Emi Kuboyama. All Rights Reserved.