One of my favorite members of Congress died late Saturday. The cause of death was a stem cell disorder.
Bob Matsui of California was elected to a 14th term in the US House this past November. He was a committed progressive on social issues, but he had worked hard on economic matters to try to create policies that were both business friendly and fit with the humanitarian and environmental goals that are core beliefs of the Democratic party. He was probably the most visible support of free trade policies among the Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee (he ranked 3rd in seniority, behind Charlie Rangel and Pete Stark, among the Democrats on the panel). On top of that, he was generally known as a sincere, unpretentious, nice man. He was one of the good guys in DC, and he will be missed.
It should probably be noted that as the ranking Democrat on the Social Security subcommittee Matsui was one his party's leaders on that issue. That post will now likely be filled by Rep. Ben Cardin of Maryland, though I suppose it's possible Sander Levin would leave his leadership post on the Trade subcommittee to take this position. Presuming Cardin takes it, it would give him a very visible platform as he mulls a race for governor in 2006.
Posted by armand at January 2, 2005 05:14 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics