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EK: Emi Kuboyama with Stanford University. It's September 11, 2019, and we're here in Washington, D.C. Hi, Tink, could we start by having you introduce yourself, your name and your ORA title or role?

TC: My name is Tink Cooper, and I was the legal counsel for ORA for approximately ten years.

EK: And where were you born and raised?

TC: I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and I went to school there. I received my Bachelor of Arts from George State University in Atlanta. I received my law degree, my Juris Doctor at Florida State University, and then I came to Washington, D.C. at Georgetown Law Center and obtained my master's of law, my L.L.M., and focused on international law.

EK: Could you talk a little bit about your professional experience prior to starting with the Office of Redress Administration?

TC: When I came to D.C. to attend Georgetown, I loved Washington, D.C. so much, I decided I didn't want to return home. And I stayed here and worked with the Department of Treasury and did international trade law there. And then I had heard there was a job opening here and applied for it and was interviewed by Bob Bratt, the former administrator, and I was hired in early 1991 for redress.

EK: So you were with redress from 1991 until approximately when?

TC: Approximately 2000. The ORA program was a ten-year program, it sunset after ten years, there was a six month closing period, but then we ended up running out of money and we needed to get extra appropriations to pay claimants, and there were a number of lawsuits, so I probably continued working in ORA for, probably until around 2000.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2019 Emi Kuboyama. All Rights Reserved.