Spark Masayuki Matsunaga (October 8, 1916April 15, 1990) was an American politician and attorney who served as United States Senator for Hawaii from 1977 until his death in 1990. Matsunaga also represented Hawaii in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the Hawaii territorial house of representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, Matsunaga introduced legislation that led to the creation of the United States Institute of Peace and to reparations to Japanese-American World War II detainees.

Early life

Born Masayuki Matsunaga on October 8, 1916, the Territory of Hawaii island of Kauai, Spark Matsunaga was Japanese-American. His parents had emigrated to the United States from Japan. When he was eight, he was nicknamed Sparky after Spark Plug, a character in the comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. He received a bachelor's degree with honors in education from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1941. The men adopted "Remember Pearl Harbor" as their unit's motto. The training record of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep) at Camp McCoy, plus the service of the Varsity Victory Volunteers in Hawaiʻi, led the War Department to authorize the formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) on February 1, 1943. Matsunaga was twice wounded in battle in Italy during World War II. Matsunaga graduated from Harvard Law School in 1951.

Matsunaga was instrumental in the passage of a redress bill for people of Japanese descent who were detained in the United States during World War II. The $1.25 billion bill provided $20,000 to each detainee and also apologized to the detainees. Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy, all of whom were confirmed unanimously by the senate. He voted against the nomination of William Rehnquist to be Chief Justice, as well as the nomination of Robert Bork to be associate justice, the latter of which was rejected in a 58–42 vote.

In 1989, Matsunaga voted against President George H.W Bush's nomination of John Tower to be Secretary of Defense. Tower faced accusations of alcohol abuse and womanizing, and would ultimately be rejected by the Senate in a 53–47 vote.

Matsunaga was known for his sense of humor. One famous incident involved Matsunaga and then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig at a White House reception for Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki in 1981. Haig reportedly mistook Matsunaga for a member of the Japanese delegation and asked if he spoke English. Matsunaga replied, "Yes, Mr. Secretary, I do — and I had the honor of voting for your confirmation the other day."

Personal life and death

Matsunaga was married to the former Helene Hatsumi Tokunaga and had three daughters and two sons.

A bronze statue honoring him is in the Spark M. Matsunaga International Children's Garden For Peace at the Storybook Theatre of Hawaii in his hometown of Hanapepe, Kauai. As of 1999, Matsunaga's portrait appears on US Series I Bonds in the $10,000 denomination.

See also

  • List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress
  • List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)

References

  • Spark M. Matsunaga biography United States Institute of Peace.
  • Spark M. Matsunaga's published biography Sparky: Warrior, Peacemaker, Poet, Patriot by Richard Halloran. .
  • Biography on U.S. Congress House website

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