Press Releases

Senators Mazie K. Hirono and Brian Schatz, and Representatives Tulsi Gabbard and Ed Case wrote to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue urging him to extend child nutrition waivers to assist schools and community organizations in feeding students during the coming school year. Following nationwide school closures earlier this...

HONOLULU – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) joined a bicameral letter led by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Representatives Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) calling for the Office of Child Care (OCC) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) along with Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) led a bipartisan group of their Senate colleagues in a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma requesting CMS make all recommended vaccines accessible to Medicare...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and other colleagues introduced the Coronavirus Language Access Act, which expands access to coronavirus-related resources by increasing language access services and supporting culturally appropriate COVID-19 response programs to help older...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that the University of Hawaii will receive $1.5 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to expand education programs focused on food, agriculture, and natural resources. This funding is part...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) joined a letter led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and signed by 32 of their colleagues calling for President Trump to restore full federal funding in states where the National Guard has been deployed to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Without explanation, last week President Trump...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with her colleagues Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) introduced the Impact Aid Infrastructure Act (IAIA), which provides $1 billion...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) led a letter with 25 of their colleagues urging Majority Leader McConnell to support tax-paying immigrant families who have Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITIN) by ensuring...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced nearly $3.2 million in federal funding for Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions in Hawaii, including Chaminade University, the University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo), UH Maui College, Honolulu Community College, Kapiolani Community College, and Windward Community...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) joined a letter led by Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to Senate leadership urging them to protect Americans’ private COVID-19 health data by including the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act in the next coronavirus relief package. The letter, sent to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement on the President’s approval of an emergency declaration for Hawaii in advance of Hurricane Douglas: “Federal, State, and County officials are working in concert to prepare as Hurricane Douglas approaches the state. I appreciate the swift approval...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) led six of her Senate colleagues in a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue expressing alarm that the USDA has excluded small and mid-sized farmers from participating in the Farmers to Families Food Box Program during the pandemic over a voluntary audit and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, following advocacy from Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) announced it will investigate DOJ’s use of force on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square and Portland, Oregon. “As protesters across the country have peacefully demanded their...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that she secured a provision in the Senate-passed Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will support community development of former Naval Air Station (NAS) Barbers Point by directing the Navy to spend funds from the established Ford Island master...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Mazie HIrono issued the following statement on her vote in favor of the Sanders Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): "As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am a strong supporter of the role our military plays in protecting our national security. But as I have said before,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led 29 of their colleagues in a letter to Vice President Mike Pence and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Peter Gaynor urging them to take immediate action to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sanitizing supplies for...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wrote to Department of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) cosponsored the Protecting Renters from Eviction and Fees Act, legislation introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to extend and expand the federal eviction moratorium for renters set out in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that is set to end on...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) called on the Department of Commerce to stop obstructing the release of the Inspector General (IG) Peggy Gustafson’s report into the politicization of science during Hurricane Dorian in September 2019. “Americans in the path of a serious storm should be able to rely on the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awarded the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) $8.9 million to support rural transit service in Kauai and Hawaii counties during the coronavirus pandemic. The Kauai County Transportation Agency and the County of...