When California Rep. Robert Matsui died Jan. 1 of complications from a rare blood disease, America lost one of its most talented bridge-builders. He was 63.

Matsui, who as a 9-year-old once told friends, “You know, I really don’t like being Japanese,” spent the first four years of his life in the Tule Lake internment camp with his family. He hated “the teasing, the characterization of Asian Americans with buckteeth and slanted eyes,” longtime friend Norman Mineta told the Sacramento Bee.

The Sacramento native grew up to be one of the most influential Japanese Americans in U.S. history and a sympathetic champion for all minorities. The 25-year congressional veteran became a national symbol for Asian Americans, “an emerging group that doesn’t have as many outspoken heroes as some groups,” a former aide to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein once said.

The former internee in 1988 helped pass legislation that led to apologies and $20,000 payments to the thousands of Japanese American survivors of the internment camps. The “tears and painful remembrances of internees” motivated him, said Matsui, whose American-born parents had lost their produce business and home during the internment.

“It’s a very emotional day for us,” Matsui said when President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law on Aug. 10. “At the same time, it’s a very important day for the country. It demonstrates that we as a nation do believe in the Constitution and the rights of individuals.”

The congressman’s work, however, didn’t stop with Asian Americans. Matsui met regularly with African American leaders — which angered some Japanese Americans, who said he should spend that time among his own.

But some eventually caught on. Maeley Tom, a prominent Chinese American politician, told the Sacramento Bee, “Quite frankly, he helped me understand that we cannot just fight for our own causes as Asian Americans — we need to pursue goals and issues that impact all Americans.”

Matsui was the first Japanese American elected to the Sacramento City Council in 1971. Seven years later, he was the first Japanese American elected to the House of Representatives. At the time of his death, Matsui was one of the principal opponents to President George W. Bush’s initiative to privatize Social Security.

“Bob Matsui was a dedicated public servant and a good and decent man who served with distinction and integrity in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 25 years,” Bush said in a statement. “In the Congress, he was a leader of his party admired by colleagues on both sides of the aisle.”

Matsui is survived by Doris, his wife of 38 years; his 32-year-old son Brian; daughter-in-law Amy; and granddaughter Anna.