Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, opened an investigation into the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program following disturbing reports of widespread patterns of sexual...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded $1.5 million in federal funding to Hawaii to support veterans’ suicide prevention efforts. The funding is made possible through the Commander John Scott...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted to advance the DISCLOSE Act of 2021, legislation to end dark-money spending in our elections. The legislation failed by a vote of 49-49, without a single Republican voting in favor. Shortly before voting, Senator Hirono spoke about...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned a panel of Department of Defense (DOD) leaders about the impact that access to reproductive health care, family planning, and military culture have on military recruitment and retention efforts during a hearing of the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, questioned Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), about legal protections for VA employees who provide abortion care—as well as challenges veterans in Hawaii face, including excessive wait times in VA...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) introduced legislation to combat Rapid Ohia Death (ROD), which has killed more than a million Ohia trees in Hawaii since its discovery in 2014. The Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2022 authorizes $55 million in federal funding over the next eleven years to support ongoing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, delivered remarks at a Senate National Parks Subcommittee hearing, emphasizing the importance of the Kaena Point National Heritage Area Act, which she introduced earlier this year. This bicameral legislation would require the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $3.8 million grant to Hi‘ipaka, LLC, Haleiwa, Hawaii, to boost tourism through the renovation and expansion of an important Native Hawaiian cultural site and popular...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on the appointment of Rear Admiral John Wade to serve as Commander of the Joint Task Force responsible for the safe defueling and closure of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu: “In...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded more than $31 million in capitalization grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to Hawaii through the State Revolving Funds (SRFs) program....

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, joined Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, and several of their Senate Democratic colleagues in introducing the Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined 29 of her Senate colleagues in a letter led by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), in calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take immediate action to safeguard women’s privacy and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), John Cornyn (R-TX), and 43 of her Senate colleagues in introducing a commemorative resolution recognizing September 15th through October 15th, 2022, as Hispanic Heritage Month. The resolution celebrates the heritage, culture and immense...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), along with several of their Democratic colleagues, in a press conference to speak out against Senate Republicans’ recently-introduced legislation to ban abortion...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance legislation sponsored by Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to limit the enforceability of non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement agreements (NDAs) where a sexual harassment or sexual assault dispute arises and survivors wish to break their silence. The bipartisan,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) delivered remarks on the Senate floor in support of the nomination of Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta to serve as Ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues and condemning Republicans’ continued obstruction of her nomination. For months, Republicans blocked consideration of Dr....

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, emphasized the need for immigration reform to address the strain caused by the shortage of health care workers in Hawaii and across the country during a Subcommittee hearing. In the hearing,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor speaking out against the radical nationwide abortion ban recently introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Despite previous Republican statements that abortion laws should be decided by the states,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, highlighted the serious privacy and national security threats posed by Twitter’s alleged mishandling of data and information at a full Committee hearing. In the hearing, Senator Hirono questioned Mr. Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono delivered remarks at Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s weekly press conference highlighting the historic provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 to make health care more affordable for people in Hawaii and across the country. The IRA will lower health care costs for seniors...