LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) -- Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, who dedicated himself to securing an apology and compensation from the government for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, has died, a group of which he was a board member said. He was 93.

Simpson died at a hospice in Cody, Wyoming, on Friday. A longtime Republican, he developed a close friendship with the late Democratic Rep. Norman Mineta, the first Japanese American to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.

Born in Denver, Colorado, in 1931, Simpson was a Wyoming House of Representatives member before becoming a U.S. senator for the state, holding the position for nearly 20 years until 1997. He broke his lower back in December, the group said.

In 1943, Simpson met Mineta, who had been taken to the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming.

After resuming contact around 30 years later, Simpson cooperated with Mineta, who sought redress for Japanese Americans, leading to the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 under then U.S. President Ronald Reagan.