Press Releases

HONOLULU, HI – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, visited the Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge (PHNWR) on Oahu to see the wetland habitat and plant akulikuli, a type of native coastal ground covering. While there, Senator Hirono also presented a framed copy of a...

HONOLULU, HI – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) announced that Community Health Centers (CHCs) on Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii Island will receive over $8.15 million in federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to support the delivery of health care services to underserved communities across the state. The five...

HONOLULU, HI – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) visited the University of Hawaii West Oahu (UHWO) campus to speak with UHWO students, faculty, administrators, and staff about their initiatives in sustainable food and agriculture, food security, digital media, and labor education and research. As part of her visit, Senator Hirono...

HONOLULU, HI – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Mokapu Elementary School at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe. Once completed, the new school will have the capacity to serve nearly 1,000 students on base and will replace the current dated...

Aloha, Over the past year, Democrats in Congress have passed landmark legislation to lower energy costs, support veterans and seniors, uplift underrepresented communities, and provide funding to upgrade aging infrastructure. As the year comes to a close, I’d like to reflect on the work we’ve done to support families and communities in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Joseph R. Biden signed into law legislation led by Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to allow Native Hawaiian survivors of gender-based violence to access critical programs and resources provided by Congress through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The reauthorization of VAWA—which was signed into law in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Joe Biden signed into law three bills introduced by U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to protect coral reefs, connect families separated by the Korean War, and create a new Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Advisory Committee. Senator Hirono’s Coral Reef Sustainability Through...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Biden signed into law the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizing $1 billion for the defueling and closure of Red Hill secured by U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In addition to the $1 billion for Red Hill, Senator...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Heritage Area Act, which includes the Kaena Point National Heritage Area Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to study designating Kaena Point on Oahu as a National Heritage Area, by a vote of 326-95. The legislation would...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) voted to pass the Fiscal Year 2023 government spending bill, which includes nearly $450 million in earmarks, known as Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS), she secured for nonprofit organizations and government agencies in Hawaii. Senator Hirono secured CDS funding for projects in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) led 6 of her Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Kaiser Permanente CEO Greg Adams urging Kaiser to come to a good faith agreement with mental and behavioral health workers in the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) in Hawaii who have been on strike for 16 weeks. In the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressing concern over reports that military families are being forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-HI) and Kai Kahele (D-HI) in calling for a congressionally-initiated independent investigation into how the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted to pass the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included key provisions she secured, including $1 billion for the defueling and closure of Red Hill and nearly $800 million for other military...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined eight of her Democratic colleagues in introducing the Right to Private Conduct Act, a bill to protect the rights to privacy and liberty granted by the Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas. This legislation would prevent any person...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to allow Native Hawaiian survivors of gender-based violence to access critical programs and resources provided by Congress through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The reauthorization of VAWA—which was...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined President Biden at the White House as he signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law. The bipartisan legislation, which Senator Hirono cosponsored and helped to pass last month, protects marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples in federal law. “Being...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), secured the text of two bills she sponsored in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (FY23 NDAA), which passed the House earlier this week by a vote of 350-80 and now heads to the Senate for consideration, where it is expected to pass with broad support and become law. The...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), today applauded House passage of the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included key provisions she secured as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), including $1 billion for the defueling and closure of Red Hill and nearly $800 million...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, during National Corals Week, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Representative Ed Case (D-HI) introduced the Coral Reef Sustainability Through Innovation Act of 2022, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to help protect coral reef ecosystems in Hawaii and across the nation from increasing threats such as climate...