Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) was appointed to chair the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, which provides important oversight of the majority of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps programs, during the 117th Congress. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) will serve as Ranking Member. “As Chair of the Seapower...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement after President Biden nominated Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to serve as Secretary of Labor and Julie Su to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor: “Mayor Walsh will refocus the Department of Labor on improving the lives and welfare of workers across this...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) questioned President Biden’s nominee to be U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator, Isabel Guzman, during a U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing today.  “When I had a chance to talk with you, you made a commitment to make sure...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) questioned President Biden’s nominee to be Deputy Secretary of Defense, Dr. Kathleen Hicks, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today.  “I view our shipyards as a national concern. I chatted with you about the importance of the four public shipyards—of...

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Mark Takano (D-Calif.) today introduced bicameral legislation to award Fred Korematsu the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his legacy of fighting against the illegal incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and for being a staunch defender of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that Hawaii is set to receive $12,937,390 in grant funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care Program for Fiscal Year 2020. This funding will be distributed to service providers across the state. “The coronavirus pandemic has...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) met yesterday with Isabel Guzman, President Biden’s nominee for Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator. Senator Hirono serves on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, which will consider Ms. Guzman’s nomination. The Senator and Ms. Guzman...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a virtual meeting today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed her support for Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to serve as the next Attorney General of the United States. During their meeting, Senator Hirono and Judge Garland strongly agreed on the need to restore the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with her colleagues Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), wrote to the Department of Commerce Inspector General (IG), seeking an investigation into the publication of documents falsely denying the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on President Biden’s executive actions on immigration and his comprehensive immigration reform proposal: “Through some of his first actions as President, Joe Biden has demonstrated that his immigration...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) questioned President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired General Lloyd Austin, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today. The Senator pressed General Austin about his plans to address the scourge of sexual assault and harassment in the military,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) met with President-elect Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm. Senator Hirono is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will consider Governor Granholm’s nomination. After briefly...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement after President-elect Joe Biden announced the nominations of Judge Merrick Garland to serve as Attorney General, Lisa Monaco to serve as Deputy Attorney General, Vanita Gupta to serve as Associate Attorney General, and Kristen Clarke to serve as Assistant...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the confirmation of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary, met today with President-elect Biden’s nominee, Congresswoman Deb Haaland. Senator Hirono and Rep. Haaland discussed a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Representatives Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) and Van Taylor (R-Texas), announced that their bipartisan, bicameral legislation to permanently establish the Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative (SVI) inside the Justice Department (DOJ)’s Civil Rights...

HONOLULU – Senator Mazie K. Hirono successfully advocated for education programs in the emergency coronavirus relief bill that will support K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and early childhood programs as they respond to COVID-19. The bill also includes provisions from Senator Hirono’s Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, announced she secured a provision from her Veteran Home Loan Disaster Recovery Act in the recently-passed Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act. The legislation now heads to President...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) announced that Congress is poised to restore Medicaid eligibility for citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau – collectively known as the Freely Associated States – living in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) met today with Denis McDonough, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Senator Hirono and Mr. McDonough discussed a wide range of concerns regarding the ongoing challenges facing the VA. Mr. McDonough said that he is committed to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee, announced today that she would support a waiver to the National Security Act of 1947 to allow General Lloyd Austin to serve as the next Secretary of Defense after meeting with the nominee. “After speaking with General Austin...