Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) introduced the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2024, bicameral legislation that would nearly double the Pell Grant maximum award,...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor about the Supreme Court’s pending decision in Loper Bright Enterperises v. Raimondo, which threatens to upend the federal regulatory system by eliminating the Chevron doctrine. In her speech, Hirono laid out the...

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, hosted several events as part of the 8th Annual Hawaii on the Hill (HOH) in Washington, D.C. Hawaii on the Hill, a partnership between Senator Hirono and the Chamber of Commerce (CoC) Hawaii, was a four-day event that...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, secured several key priorities for Hawaii and the U.S. military during the Committee’s markup of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Since the fuel...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced more than $18.9 million in funding for the Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s “Kalaeloa Seawater Desalination Project.” The funding for this project will go toward designing and building a desalination facility that will...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) voted in support of the Right to IVF Act, legislation to protect the right to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services, as well as expand insurance coverage of IVF treatment for those who struggle with infertility. Prior to the vote—which...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a case concerning access to mifepristone. “Today’s decision has preserved access to mifepristone for now, however, the door remains open...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced the National Interagency Seed and Restoration Center Establishment Act, legislation that would create and fund a National Interagency Seed and Restoration Center within the...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Representatives Adam Smith (D-WA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) led their colleagues in introducing the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2024, which would grant U.S. citizenship to international adoptees who were legally adopted in the U.S. as children but lack citizenship status...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) led eleven of her colleagues in speaking on the Senate floor in support of the Right to Contraception Act—legislation she leads with Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—and calling out Republicans for blocking the bill. This legislation would guarantee the right for...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committees, will join a bipartisan Senate delegation traveling to Normandy, France to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion by Allied forces during World War II. “I am honored to attend the 80th anniversary of D-Day and pay...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement ahead of the Senate vote tomorrow on their bill, the Right to Contraception Act. The bill would guarantee the right for people to obtain and use contraceptives and for health providers to prescribe...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Representative Judy Chu (D-CA), and Representatives Mark Takano (D-CA), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), and Doris Matsui (D-CA) led 14 other CAPAC members in sending a letter to President Biden expressing their support for the posthumous nomination...

HONOLULU, HI – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, held a roundtable with Native Hawaiian veterans to discuss their priorities, ways to ensure continued access to care, and the need for more peer support from other veterans. At the roundtable, she announced the introduction of the Parity for...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined 13 of her Senate colleagues in introducing new legislation to bring transparency to decisions on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, also called the “shadow docket.” The Shadow Docket Sunlight Act, led by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) announced that the U.S. Forest Service is awarding more than $5.6 million to help plan for and prevent wildfires in Hawaii. The funding, made available through the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) Program, will be allocated to nine projects across the state to help at-risk communities plan...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined seven of her colleagues in calling on Congress to provide robust funding for energy efficiency and climate resilience investments across the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) released the following statement on the third anniversary of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act being signed into law by President Biden. The legislation, introduced by Senator Hirono and Representative Grace Meng (D-NY), addresses the rise in hate-based violence against the Asian American,...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led 41 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS), as well as Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV),...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined 43 of her colleagues in calling on Congress to fund the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks America) in the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Bill. As a congressionally chartered...