Press Releases

The Pell Grant Preservation & Expansion Act helps students offset the rising costs of college by permanently indexing Pell Grants to inflation, increasing its purchasing power Bill also makes Pell Grant funding mandatory, providing students with security of stability of program Nearly eight million students currently receive Pell...

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senator Mazie K. Hirono took to the Senate floor today to continue her call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump administration’s ties to Russia and interference in our democracy. From Senator Hirono’s remarks: “Most recently, the Washington Post reported that Deputy Attorney...

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senator Mazie K. Hirono issued the following statement on President Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey: “The President’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey in this manner, under this pretext, and at this time is a total disservice to the American people. “The country is asking,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and General James Clapper on Russian interference in our democracy, including the Trump administration’s ties to Russia. Following the hearing, Senator Hirono released the following statement: “In...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and other women Senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to highlight the importance of net neutrality to women across America and urged him to reconsider the proposal he outlined last month to roll back critical online consumer...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement on the House of Representatives passing Trumpcare: “Today, I’m thinking of the thousands of Hawaii residents I’ve heard from who are living in fear of losing their insurance and other protections they’ve received thanks to the Affordable Care...

Washington, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) today announced $100,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to support the Kauai Economic Development Board’s (KEDB’s) creation of the Kauai Creative Technology Center.  “Creative industries have a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement on the bipartisan deal reached Sunday to fund the federal government through September: “On balance, this bipartisan compromise provides funding for Hawaii priorities, and stands as a rejection of the deep cuts the President has proposed to programs that are...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and 10 Senate Democrats urged the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to update its standards for the collection of racial and ethnic data to better reflect the nation’s growing Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population. Such standards have not been...

The bipartisan deal reached Sunday to fund the federal government through September includes Senator Mazie K. Hirono’s proposal to reinstate Year-Round Pell Grants for college students in Hawaii and across the country. The deal includes provisions from Senator Hirono’s Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act that would allow low- and...

U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), applauded the Senate’s passage of their bipartisan resolution to encourage children to get outdoors by designating May 20 National Kids to Parks Day. The seventh annual Kids to...

Senator Mazie K. Hirono remains opposed to the relocation of retail services from the Lihue Post Office. Following today’s announcement that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will restart its regulatory review process and provide an additional public comment period, Senator Hirono issued the following statement: “I appreciate today’s...

Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) today introduced the Coral Reef Sustainability Through Innovation Act of 2017. In response to increasing threats to coral reef ecosystems such as climate change, pollution, and direct damage from humans, this legislation directs federal agencies to establish a...

Today, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono and Joni Ernst (R-IA) reintroduced the Veterans E-Health & Telemedicine Support Act of 2017 (VETS Act). This bipartisan legislation seeks to improve health care access – including mental health treatment – for disabled or rural veterans by expanding telehealth services provided by the Department...

Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) urged the President to continue the implementation of the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program (FWVP) program, which reunites Filipino veterans who fought for the United States during World War...

Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced legislation to extend the federal Historically Underutilized Business Zone Contracting (HUBZone) program for Maui County small businesses, and other communities that are set to lose their HUBZone...

Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement in response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ comments on Judge Derrick Kahala Watson’s ruling against the President’s Muslim ban: “The suggestion that being from Hawaii somehow disqualifies Judge Watson from performing his Constitutional duty is dangerous, ignorant,...

Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) introduced S. 899, the bipartisan Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veteran Transition Improvement Act, to ensure veterans with a disability rating of 30% or higher who are hired by the VA in critical medical positions can access additional paid sick leave during...

Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, celebrated the unanimous U.S. Senate passage of their resolution to mark April 15 through April 23 as National Park Week. “Last fall, I joined our National Park Service ohana...

Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and 15 Senate Democrats pressed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for answers on the Department of Justice’s plan to review consent decrees between the federal government and local law enforcement agencies. The Senators asked Attorney General Sessions to lay out the impact of the review, including if the...