Congressman was ’80s redress campaign leader.
By P.C. Staff
Barney Frank died May 19. The quick-witted Democrat who served for 32 years as a United States representative for suburban Boston and the state of Massachusetts was 86.
According to the Associated Press, Frank — who after retiring had moved to Ogunquit, Maine, with husband Jim Ready — entered hospice care in April after a diagnosis of congestive heart failure.
FROM 1988: Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was saluted Jan. 30 for his efforts in the passage of H.R. 442 in the House. (L-R) Rep. Norman Mineta, George Ogawa, JACL-LEC Executive Director Grayce Uyehara, JACL National President Harry Kajihara, Rep. Frank, Marleen Kawahara, Rep. Robert Matsui and George Takei. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Frank was best-known for many things; among them: his verbal jabs; as the first member of Congress to voluntarily reveal he was gay (1987) and later marry a person of the same gender (2012); and for financial reforms known as the Dodd-Frank Act, with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
Lesser-known now was his leadership role in Congress as an advocate for Japanese American redress that culminated with President Reagan signing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
It called for an apology from the federal government for its World War II-era treatment of ethnic Japanese in America, for citizens and legal resident aliens then-prohibited from becoming naturalized, along with monetary compensation for still-living Japanese Americans who had experienced the abrogation of their constitutional rights.
In 1988, JACL led a group called Southern California Friends for Redress to honor Frank for his redress efforts and leadership. (see Feb. 5, 1988 Pacific Citizen, tinyurl.com/3b87wftz) “Barney Frank was a leader of redress. He was one of the champions for that legislation,” said Trisha Murakawa, who is currently serving as El Camino Community College board of trustees president and was active in JACL at that time. “He worked side-by-side with the Japanese American members of Congress. Not having a Japanese American constituency of significance and not being Japanese American himself and not being personally affected by the incarceration, that showed great political courage and conviction of justice. And it showed the kind of person that he was.”
Murakawa was also active with JACL circa 1994 when it became one of the first civil rights organizations to endorse marriage equality. (see Aug. 25, 2023 Pacific Citizen, tinyurl.com/bdzn64ua) “We did not take this issue on because we owed Barney Frank. No, we took this issue on because it was the right thing to do and because we learned about … the importance of courageous leadership from Barney Frank.”
In a statement, Rep. Mark Takano (D–Calif.) said, “As we mourn Congressman Frank’s passing, I join my fellow openly-LGBTQI+ Members of Congress in holding his husband James, his family, and his friends in our hearts.”
