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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Died: Congressman Robert T. Matsui (D - CA) |
| 2005-01-03 |
| Democratic Rep. Robert T. Matsui of California, who spent time in an internment camp for Japanese-Americans as an infant during World War II and went on to serve 26 years in Congress, has died [Saturday night] of complications from a rare disease, his family said Sunday. He was 63 years old. May God bless him and keep him, and give him peace. He was the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the past two years, in charge of the unsuccessful effort to regain control of the House. He also was the third-ranking Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, where he was his party's point man on Social Security legislation. In a statement announcing Mr. Matsui's death, his office disclosed that the congressman was diagnosed several months ago with milo dysplastic disorder, a rare stem-cell disorder that reduces the body's ability to produce red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Victims of the disease are left more susceptible to other illnesses, with less ability to fight them off. The statement said Mr. Matsui entered the hospital on Dec. 24 with pneumonia. Mr. Matsui was recently re-elected with ease to his 14th term in Congress. His death will trigger a special election for a new representative in his Sacramento-area district. While it will be interesting to see who takes his place, the result will nonetheless be a weaker Democratic party without his seniority and knowledge. These days the Dems can't win for losing. Mr. Matsui was born in 1941. The following year, his family was among the Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps during World War II. Decades later, he helped pass legislation which apologized for the internment policy and provided compensation for the survivors. Mr. Matsui won his seat in Congress in 1978. He generally supported Democratic legislation, but his support for global-trade legislation put him at odds with members of his party on some high-profile measures. As senior Democrat on the subcommittee on Social Security, he gave every impression during the final few weeks of his life of being eager to lead the opposition to President Bush's plans to establish personal retirement accounts as part of a general overhaul of the program. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 Myelodysplastic Syndrome is a term for a set of diseases where the body produces immature and ineffective red blood cells, and low numbers of the other types, but where the bone marrow has excess number of cells. MDS can evolve into acute myelogenous leukemia. See the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation for information. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2005-01-03 9:33:41 PM |
| #1 I am no Dummycrat, but this guy was class. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-01-03 8:03:34 PM |