Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) announced that Hawaii will receive $20 million in additional assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to keep keiki fed. The funding, some of which was authorized in the Keeping Kids Fed Act that Senator Hirono helped pass in both the House and Senate before it was...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL) re-introduced the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act, legislation that would strengthen Social Security’s financial state and ensure that seniors continue to benefit from the programs they have paid into throughout their...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) urged the Senate to advance legislation to provide additional, guaranteed funding for the Title X Family Planning Program in a speech on the Senate floor. The Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, legislation she introduced with colleagues earlier this week, would protect access to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emphasized the need to restrict widespread civilian access to military-style assault weapons amid the nation’s gun violence epidemic at a full Judiciary Committee hearing. During the hearing, Senator Hirono condemned the right-wing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in introducing the Right to Contraception Act. This legislation, backed by over half of the Senate Democratic caucus, would codify the fundamental and constitutional right to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with 32 Democratic colleagues in the Senate, in introducing the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act. The bill would protect access to critical reproductive health care services—like birth...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 21 of their colleagues in introducing the Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2022. This legislation would simplify the tax filing process for millions of Americans, saving them hours and hundreds of dollars. Along with lowering costs and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono, member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and 40 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in sending a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough requesting answers and speedy action to ensure same-sex...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in introducing the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022. The bill clarifies that it is illegal for anti-choice...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to introduce the Speak Out Act, a bipartisan bill that would prohibit predispute non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in instances in which sexual...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy, convened a subcommittee hearing to discuss ways to reduce energy prices in the United States. During the hearing, the Subcommittee heard testimony from experts, including Kauai Island Utility Cooperative President...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned health care and legal experts in a full committee hearing about the implications of the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade on abortion access and other constitutional rights, and what can be done to protect...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Youth Voting Rights Act, comprehensive legislation to enforce the Twenty-Sixth Amendment and expand youth access to voting. This legislation, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), was also introduced in the House by...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), an immigrant born in Japan who was the first Asian and Japanese American woman to serve in the United States Senate, released the following statement on the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe:   “I am shocked and deeply saddened by the...

HONOLULU, HI –Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) was on Kauai, where she toured the Wailua River Bridge infrastructure project before visiting the Hawaii Food Bank Kauai Chapter and the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii’s (BGCH) Lihue Clubhouse. The Senator began her day with a tour of the Wailua River Bridge, where she was joined...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, released the following statement on President Biden awarding the Medal of Honor to four U.S. army soldiers—including two from Hawaii—who fought in the Vietnam War: “Staff Sergeant Kaneshiro and Specialist Five Fujii are...

HONOLULU, HI – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) convened a working group of reproductive leaders and health care experts following the disastrous Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Senator Hirono held an initial conversation today, with many more to come, to discuss the impact this decision will have on women in Hawaii, how...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA: “Once again, the extremist right-wing majority on the Supreme Court has made a harmful...

HONOLULU, HI – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) visited the construction site for the Daniel Kahikina Akaka VA Clinic, followed by a visit to the Ka Makana Alii Shopping Center in Kapolei and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) Emergency Assistance Center and Pop-Up Makeke Warehouse. The Senator began her day with a visit...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after the U.S. Navy submitted its plan for the permanent defueling and closure of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu: “Earlier this month, I fought to authorize $1 billion in federal funding...