Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) held events on Maui highlighting federal investments in Hawaii communities and efforts to support the state’s ongoing recovery and rebuilding from the COVID-19 pandemic. During her visit, Senator Hirono toured the site of the Honoapiilani Highway Realignment Project, which last year...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced a bipartisan resolution marking May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The resolution recognizes the significant contributions Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs), which includes Native Hawaiians, have made to this country. It also highlights...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) wrote to President Biden urging him to commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who has been imprisoned for 46 years. In 1977, Peltier, a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), was convicted of the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) introduced legislation to reinstate access to federal benefits for immigrants, who currently must wait five years after entering the country before becoming eligible due to unjust policy enacted nearly 30 years ago. In 1996, Congress passed restrictive welfare and immigration legislation...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to prioritize specific eligibility requirements for the newly created $5 million grant for Community-Based Approaches to Advancing Justice, that was established through the Fiscal Year 2022 spending bill. As...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) issued the following statements on the one-year anniversary of President Biden signing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law. Following the rise of hate crimes and violence targeted at Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) communities, last March,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) led nine of her Senate colleagues in introducing the Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act, bicameral legislation that would promote the teaching of Asian Pacific American (APA) history for high school students and teachers who enroll in the U.S. Department of Education’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, today announced that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has approved $62 million in federal funding for Hawaii small businesses through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The funding, which was included in the American...

Washington, D.C. –Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Bob Casey (D-PA) and 30 of their Democratic colleagues in urging President Joe Biden to immediately assign a coordinator within the White House on infant formula to address the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill brought to the floor by Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) establishing a commission to study the creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. Amid a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, the creation of such a museum would help promote understanding...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation introduced by Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to name the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Health Care Access (ALOHA) VA clinic currently under construction on Oahu after the late former Hawaii Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka – who first spearheaded the project...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined six of her Senate colleagues in introducing a new version of the Twenty-First Century Court Act to promote accountability and increase transparency in the federal courts. The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act was marked...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced the Expanding America’s Pacific Diplomatic Presence Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation to enhance the United States’ presence in the Pacific Island region by studying the feasibility of creating new U.S. diplomatic posts in Pacific...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) today voted to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation to codify Roe v. Wade in federal law. After Republican Senators blocked the legislation from advancing, Senator Hirono released the following statement: “Today’s vote on the Women’s Health...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging them to expedite their efficient and thorough investigation of Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis facility, as families across the country continue to suffer the consequences of the supply-chain crisis....

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) voted to confirm Alvaro Bedoya as a Federal Trade Commissioner. His confirmation to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) breaks a seven-month-long 2-2 partisan split at the FTC, giving Democrats a majority to carry out the FTC’s consumer protection mission. “With prices...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor emphasizing the need to protect abortion rights in response to the draft Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade. In her remarks, Senator Hirono called out the Republican party’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Steve Daines (R-MT) in introducing a resolution designating May 5th as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The resolution aims to raise awareness, honor Indigenous people who are missing or murdered, and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy, questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the Department of Energy’s efforts to lower energy costs for families and expand access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy in a full Committee hearing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) released the following statement to commemorate the start of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: “Every May, our country recognizes and celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month to highlight the significant contributions Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific...