Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) sent a letter to Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), expressing her strong support for the agency’s proposed rule that would expand access to healthy, free school meals for students across the country. The proposed rule would update the Community...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned a panel of legal experts about the need for a strong Supreme Court code of ethics during a full committee hearing. The hearing follows recent bombshell reporting on unethical behavior by Supreme Court justices. During her...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) urged the U.S. Senate to swiftly confirm Julie Su, Acting Secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor, as the country’s next Secretary of Labor. Su, who was confirmed by the Senate to be the Deputy Secretary of Labor in July 2021, has been serving in her current role since...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced the Fairness for Servicemembers and their Families Act, bipartisan, bicameral bill that would help ensure life insurance packages for servicemembers and veterans account for increases in cost of living and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) voted to advance a bicameral resolution affirming the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would enshrine gender equity in the U.S. Constitution. Despite the required 38 states voting to ratify the amendment, ratification has been stalled due to an arbitrary deadline...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined 21 of her Senate Democratic colleagues in a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, urging the FDA to promptly finalize its April 28, 2022 announced proposed rules to end the sale of menthol flavor in cigarettes and all flavors in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) blocked Republicans from advancing the anti-transgender Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, legislation to ban transgender women and girls from participating in sports consistent with their gender. “If my Republican colleagues were actually worried about women and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol marks his first visit to the United States, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation that builds on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) and encourages greater ties between American and Korean businesses. Senator Markwayne...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Stop Judge Shopping Act, legislation to combat “judge shopping” in federal courts by giving the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C.) exclusive jurisdiction over cases that would have...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Representatives Ed Case (D-HI) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA) reintroduced the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act, legislation that would speed up the visa process for children of Filipino World War II veterans. “Filipino soldiers served our...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), on the missile defense of Hawaii and the importance of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) during a full committee hearing. During her question...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, voted against a Republican-led effort that would overrule the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) interim rule on reproductive health care. The interim rule, which was issued after the Supreme Court’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined ten of her Senate Democratic colleagues in introducing legislation to avoid default by repealing the national debt ceiling, an arbitrary limit set by Congress on the amount of funding that the United States Treasury may borrow. The bill was led by Senator Brian Schatz...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned U.S. Navy and Marine Corps leaders on enhancing accountability after the Red Hill fuel leaks and investing in military infrastructure during a full committee hearing. During her question line, Senator Hirono pressed...

Aloha, As your Senator, I’m working to expand access to quality education, support our military communities, and assist small businesses and entrepreneurs across Hawaii. This is work I’m focused on in Washington, D.C. and in Hawaii. During the April State Work Period, I held several events on Oahu and Kauai focused on education,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) announced that the Honolulu Community Action Program (HCAP) will receive over $14.6 million in federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to support the organization’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs. “For over fifty years, the Head Start...

HONOLULU, HI – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) held events on Oahu focused on health care and protecting native plants. First, Senator Hirono, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, visited the Red Hill Clinic on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to learn...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter on April 11, 2023 to Ft. Hood Commander Lieutenant General Sean Bernabe expressing concerns about the circumstances surrounding Private Ana Basaldua Ruiz’s death and pressing for a complete, thorough and impartial...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead Senate sponsor of the Secure Access for Essential Reproductive (SAFER) Health Act, applauded the Biden Administration’s proposed rule strengthening Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protections for...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined over 200 of her colleagues in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, in support of the Biden administration’s appeal of...