 This is Think Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. I'm Marcia Joyner, and this is Community Matters. Think Tech Hawaii has done a series of Community Matters with candidates that are running for election, and of course primary is August 11. And we have interviewed people from as far south as South Point on the Big Island all the way to Nihihau and places in between. And we have talked to candidates from places that most people don't even know are in Hawaii. And today we will talk to one that everybody knows. He is our hero. He is Lieutenant Governor Doug Chen. Aloha. Aloha. And he of course is the one that stood up to the bully and flaunt the bully. So he's the one that we all know. Doug, tell us about the Lieutenant Governor. About you first. Great. Well, I'm actually the son of immigrants. My parents came from China to the U.S. back in the 1950s. Actually during a time when there were some very restrictive and discriminatory immigration laws that were in place. But they came here anyway and sacrificed just like so many people who are immigrants to the United States do in order to give the next generation a better life. So I have so much gratitude to my parents and they raised me to care about doing what's the right thing. So that was in Seattle. You were born in Seattle. Yes. My mom was a librarian at the University of Washington for almost 40 years and my father was a civil engineer. But when he first came to the U.S. he was parking cars and just trying to make his way in a world that was not his original culture. What part of China? Oh, near Shanghai. So kind of near the central part of China. Can you tell our audience about the Chinese Exclusion Act? Because most people at young age anyway have no idea just what your parents went through with the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese Exclusion Act was something that took place right after Chinese Americans who had come into the U.S. to help work on the railroads. Ended up finding that the railroads were built and now they were taking jobs away from other people or perceived as taking jobs away from other cultures. So what happened was the other cultures started to say, well, we shouldn't have Chinese people in the U.S. anymore. The Coolies. Yeah, they were called the Coolies. There were a lot of political cartoons that painted or showed Chinese people looking like they were animals or that they were monsters. And so along with that, there was a lot of decisions that were made, poor decisions by Congress as well as other leaders to exclude people who were Chinese from coming into the United States. And so it was a very strict discriminatory quota that Congress finally overturned in the 1960s. Yes, and just for our audience, it was our Senator Fong who worked on getting rid of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Again, most people don't know that far back. So then you went to Stanford. I did. Correct. We think of Asians at Stanford as being the top of the totem pole in the curve, intellectual curve. Is that true? I don't know about that, but it was a great school to go to and I really appreciated it. And in fact, my family sacrificed a lot even then. My parents, of course, took out a second mortgage and my sister even worked an extra job in order to help pay for my tuition. And to me, that actually speaks a lot of what families and immigrant families but families of all cultures really do is that they all do whatever they can to care for each other and help people be successful. So I'm forever grateful to them for that. And again, Queen Lillio Kalani contributed to Stanford University. Yes, that's so wonderful. So after Stanford, growing up in that kind of neighborhood before you went away to school, did you feel discriminatory as a child growing up in Seattle? Sure. And I think that just shows how much times have changed. So I guess what we're finding is that maybe times haven't changed so much. But I did face a lot of over-discrimination of just being called slant-eyed or being someone who was, I get teased about my name or just not being from the race that most people were part of. My neighborhood was mostly white and there were very few African-Americans, there were very few Hispanic people. So in that neighborhood, then I think it was easy for people who were minorities to be picked on. You're showing a picture, actually, of my family. So I just want to make sure that I point that out because that's my sister and my parents. That's when I graduated from law school. Correct. When I graduated from law school here at the University of Hawaii. So coming to Hawaii from that culture into this one where Asians are a major part of the culture, what was that transformation like? I mean, did you feel better? You could breathe easier being a part? For the first time, I didn't feel like a minority because I wasn't. And I also felt like there weren't any boundary lines in between cultures. I think one of the things that people end up seeing on the mainland is there's a lot more sequestration amongst neighborhoods where Chinese people just hang out with Chinese people, Japanese people just hang out with Japanese people, Mexicans and Mexicans. And here, it's just a melting pot. And to me, having been here for the past 30 years, that is such a special story that is really a unique one that can be expressed to people from all around the country. That when you come to Hawaii, you can see mixed races, you can just see people who are all being able to work together and function together successfully because of the melting pot that we are. Now, you graduated from UH Law School and most graduates from UH Law School think of going to work at some big firm, but you decided to go into government. Correct. Oh, well, my parents had always taught me to make sure that whatever I did, I was always giving back to the community. The other thing I really enjoyed was that part of being a lawyer was the opportunity to be in court. And I really wanted to be interacting with people and speaking to juries. And wearing a suit. I guess. That wasn't so great, but especially in the hot weather. But Peter Carlyle was a prosecutor at the time and he hired me on. And during that time, I started off in traffic court, but then over the years, then I eventually started doing some very serious cases, mostly domestic violence and sexual assault cases. And then you went from just being a prosecutor to deputy prosecutor. What's the difference? Correct. So I basically became the number two person in the office and so it took on a lot more managerial and policy type responsibilities. One of them actually was always advocating for the strictest common sense gun regulations that we currently have here in the state of Hawaii. And I'm very proud of that, that even to this day, Hawaii is recognized as having the strictest gun control regulations in the country. And frankly, that is something that is potentially under threat by the current administration if we don't do something about making sure that we're checking that. So then you went from the deputy prosecutor, which is where I met you, to the managing director of the city and county. So tell us about that. Yeah, that was a great experience. It was actually my first step into interacting with the city council as well as the state legislators and really understanding just a lot of what the political bubble is all about. And a good bubble that it is because it really is a place where there are so many people who care about wanting to make the community better and really get into a lot of conversations that sometimes just looks like people arguing. But actually is very productive in terms of being able to make progress here in Hawaii. Now, I must add a footnote here that when you were managing director and I was just somebody at the city council, that was the only time. Oh no, I shouldn't say only the first time I can remember that the city administration and the council worked very well together. Oh good. That's my own caveat there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then after you left there, you went to when the term was over, then you went to... Then I was working at Carl Smith Ball. I was the managing partner there for a couple years. And then eventually when Governor E. Gay became our governor, then he appointed me to become the attorney general. And so I was the attorney general from 2015 to 2018 for three years. Three years? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a great experience. Now, one of the things... Okay, let me look for it. Was that nonsense, the mess with the molasses in the... Oh yeah. Yeah. There was a very serious situation where one of the large shipping companies that brings goods to Hawaii ended up spilling... There was a molasses spill that occurred within Honolulu Harbor. And it took a lot of working with the shipping company as well as several environmentalist groups such as the Sierra Club and other major players including the current congressional delegation to come up with a great solution which basically involved restoring the coral reefs and also putting in a lot of money to be able to build infrastructure to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Well, now, that one I remembered because that went on forever and ever. So how did you solve that? Sure. It was an example of something that was actually headed towards some very serious litigation that to my mind was going to last for the next decade. In other words, I could see easily that the two sides were so far apart. One side wanted basically a billion dollars. I'm exaggerating, but just something really high. The other side wasn't really willing to pay that much. And it looked like it would be something that would be dragged through the courts. And in the meantime, we wouldn't be having our reefs being restored. We wouldn't have any money to do that. So by bringing everybody together and working with both sides of it, there was a lot of mediation that had to take place and I'm proud to say that I was part of that. And we were able to come up with a solution that was able to stop a very expensive, costly trial that would go on and on through all the courts and bring immediate relief to Honolulu Harbor as well as to our ocean environment that's around Oahu. So what did they finally do to restore the reef? What happened? They put about 15 million dollars into taking down the molasses infrastructure as well as providing funding to the state in order to be able to help grow coral reefs just around the south shore of Oahu. And that's great because that ecosystem is so important to the ocean and to the fish and the wildlife in Hawaii. Well, we need to take a break. And when we come back, we want to talk about your go around with the bully in the White House. Right. We'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. I just walked by and I said, what's happening guys? They told me they were making music. Guys, don't forget to check me out right here at the Prince of Investments. I'm your host, Prince Dykes. Each and every Tuesdays at 11 a.m. Hawaii time, I'm going to be right here. Stop by here from some of the best investment minds across the globe. And real estate, finances, stocks, hedge funds, managers, all that great stuff. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner. And we at Think Tech are doing a series of interviews with candidates all across the state from the tip of the big island all the way up to Niihau and everything in between. Candidates of places that we never dreamed existed. And today we are talking to the lieutenant governor, Doug Chen, who wants to leave us to go to D.C. Stop leaving. Go to D.C. Representing Hawaii. To do battle with the bullied Trump. Yeah. Yeah. Doug, tell us about your event, your standing up to Trump and the taking it on with the, what is it, shutting down the ports, the airport ports and everything to immigrants. Tell us about that fight with him. Well, President Trump had issued an executive order in the second weekend after he was sworn in that banned travel from several Muslim majority nations to come into the United States. And right away it threw our airports into chaos. There was a lot of protests that took place. There were people who were being told midair that they couldn't come into the country. People went down to the Daniel K. Annoy International Airport including other airports all around the country to be able to offer help. And I was the attorney general at the time and I felt like we really need to do something here to stand up for immigrants as well as for the rights of peoples that we don't discriminate against people based upon their nation of origin or their religion. I think so many people here in Hawaii especially remember the discrimination that took place against Japanese Americans when they were interned as citizens having done nothing wrong during World War II and it was done for national security reasons. They said it, yes. And I have nothing against national security. I absolutely believe it's the President's prerogative to take care of our national security but we have to always make sure that our foundational principles are upheld which is that we don't discriminate against people simply based upon their nation of origin or based upon their religion. That goes against the Constitution. What happened then? You filed the lawsuit. Then what happened? You go from there to what happened? Sure. Well, I'll tell you this really quick is that I mean I had a short interchange with President Trump himself when I was out there for a national attorney general's conference and I was able to ask him why is it that you've passed this executive order and he basically said frankly your priorities are not my priorities which was just a great point of reference to be able to say, hey that's exactly the reason why we need to be standing up and fighting for Hawaii's priorities because these values were being threatened. We brought our lawsuit here in Hawaii Federal Court. A district judge named Derek K. Loha Watson who was a President, Obama appointee, Kamehameha Schools graduate had basically agreed with me and issued a nationwide order that stopped the travel ban. That got a lot of people's attention and then it went up to the Ninth Circuit. There are three judge panel upheld it so that was the next level up and then the final level up for that was the U.S. Supreme Court. So just about I guess seven weeks now then a five to four majority sided with President Trump and upheld the travel ban. However there was four significant dissenters that said this is a very, this decision is seriously flawed and history is going to end up judging us on this. I really believe that. I really believe that Hawaii's going to be on the right side of history of this and that we are going to be shown as having done the right thing during the right time. So you took step after step after step. Did they change the order? Did they modify it at all? Along the way there were some new versions that came out that were more neutralized but they never took away the original statements that were behind it which was that President Trump had always said that he wanted to call for a complete Muslim ban of people coming into the United States. And I think that in and of itself for all of us who are now sensitive to how these statements get made right away branding people who are of a Muslim religion as terrorists that the fact that so many Americans even accept that statement just shows that we're already in a bad place in terms of how our minds process that concept. The fact is that it's not your religion that makes you a terrorist. It's some very bad decisions or just some other things. But there are people who are not Muslims who have committed some atrocious gun violence within our country and so anyway that's just not the right thing to do. So now you have decided that you want to go to Congress. Yes. To represent us in Congress. Why? Well one of the things that I saw, well one thing I could tell you is that I could say I ask myself that every night before I go to sleep. I'm sure your wife does too. But I will say this is that one thing I'll give you the serious answer which is this is that one of the things that I saw as attorney general is that ports can only do so much. They can only stop something or they can slow something down but it's Congress that can really be proactive when it's functioning well in order to be able to make differences in the country. So to me I just want to talk about this. I see that there are some very critical issues that are coming up right now from Washington DC that if we don't address them it's going to impact an entire generation. So one obviously is immigration. This whole idea of just kind of blocking out people from certain continents and allowing more welcoming to people from European nations. That impacts an entire generation if we don't really stand up and speak out against that. I think another thing that's very critical has to do with gun control. There's a lot of movement right now. There's a company that is trying to manufacture three-dimensional guns in people's homes. A 3D gun with no serial, no nothing? Correct, correct. And so that has been right now as we're sitting here in camera time then it's been upheld or it's been stopped by a court but it's only temporarily stopped and so it's going to take Congress to make sure that that doesn't continue further. There's another serious issue where Congress is trying to think about making states that have common sense gun regulations like us recognize the rights of other people who are coming into Hawaii so that we have to recognize their state's laws. Now that is not safe at all. This pains me to say it but then this thing called state's rights. Correct, correct, correct. So the fact that that's even coming up means that I feel like I am the right person as someone with a law enforcement background as the attorney general and as a prosecutor and also as someone who's a lawyer to really be able to make sure that Congress doesn't do anything that will really affect an entire generation. Well now, let's rewind back to the Federalist Papers when they made the decision that each state would be a state and not that the federal government would not interfere with the things that happen in each state. That's my memory of the Federalist Papers. That was the whole idea in creating this thing called United States. Correct, correct. And our state laws that we've passed are ones that have been really has been decades of work by state legislators, by governors, by prosecutors to really be able to advocate for the gun regulations that we have here. We don't want there to be the same kind of massive type of shooting that's occurred. We had one actually happen in 1999 with the Xerox shooting. We never want that to happen again. And so the idea of what's called reciprocity that's being talked about right now in Congress, that is something that I feel very motivated to stop and feel like I'm in the best position to be able to stop it with my background. Yes, I agree with you. And assuming, of course, that you do get elected and you're one of four, and it takes 218 people, any party, to get a bill to the floor, how do you think that you can make a difference in moving enough other people to make that 218? It starts with working closely with our own congressional delegations. So I think the fact that we have four is from Hawaii. It's a small number, but it can be a very loud number when there is seniority that can be built. And so one of the things that I feel like I bring to the table is just turn 52. And so I feel like, God willing, if I've got good health, then I have another good 20, 25 years to be able to build seniority out there, which I think is actually in contrast to some of my other candidates. I mean, some of them I think they have less years ahead of them, and I think other people don't have the right type of experience that really prepares them for being in Congress. Yeah, now, I'm agreeing with you. I think that your experience, especially in these areas that you mentioned, immigration, gun control. And the other thing is women's rights and LGBTQ rights, which are completely under attack. Oh, yes. And Roe v. Wade is looking like it'll get overturned with the addition of a new conservative Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh. That's very concerning, as well as LGBTQ rights being rolled back from all the progress that's been made. And as the Attorney General, I have taken strong stances to make sure that we don't defund Planned Parenthood, that we are standing up for the rights of same-sex couples. And so I would continue to be a staunch advocate in those areas. Yes. I'm agreeing with you because you were right here on this program when we first took a stand on marriage equality, and you were right here in this very seat supporting it and supporting cannabis and medical aid and dying. You have been totally supportive in all of those issues. All of which are under attack. I was going to say that. Correct. Do we always choose something that has to be under attack? Well, to me, I think that's why Hawaii's so awesome is because we really are on the cutting edge of so many things that I think are good for the next generation and good for our future. So to me, this is a really critical time. We're at a very serious time when we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to be able to stand up for Hawaii's values. Well, now would you be so kind as to tell us why we should vote for you on August 11 or, let's see, early voting has already started. So why we should vote for you? So first of all, I would say this. I think for people who've already voted, I want to thank them for voting regardless of who it was because they were part of the process. And by far, that is the most important thing. If they haven't voted yet and they're still undecided, I'd encourage them to look at my website, DougChin.com, because I think it talks a lot about my priorities as well as my background and why I think I'm the best person to be representing Hawaii and Washington, D.C. in 2018. I think, frankly, this is a very critical time for the country and I just feel like we need someone like former Attorney General who's a career prosecutor who can really be able to hold Washington accountable and also be able to work with the congressional delegation to be able to see that Hawaii's priorities are met. So hoping I get that opportunity. It's been great just to be able to meet so many people from Oahu. I feel very blessed to be able to have that experience. Well, thank you so much for always being there and I wish you the best of luck. Great, thank you. And aloha. Aloha. We'll see you next time.