Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) and 31 of their colleagues to introduce the Clean Economy Act, legislation that requires the United States to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2050.  “The...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono announced her support of S. 3218, the Protecting Community Television Act, legislation that would protect the funding of community television stations, which educate and inform viewers across Hawaii. In Hawaii, community television stations Na Leo, Hoike, Akaku, and Olelo broadcast across...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a speech on the floor of the United States Senate today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced she would vote to convict and remove President Donald Trump on both Articles of Impeachment – Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. From Senator Hirono’s Remarks: “Donald Trump was already a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and 36 of their colleagues sent a letter to President Trump demanding he retract comments he made about being open to cutting earned benefits like Medicare or Social Security to pay for his tax giveaway to corporations and the richest...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and more than 150 Congressional Democrats called on the Trump Administration to extend the deadline for public comment on a proposed weakening of environmental regulations.  The letter urges the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to extend the comment...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on the third anniversary of the announcement of President Trump’s Muslim Ban, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono joined a rally with Congressional Democrats, faith leaders, and civil rights advocates urging swift passage of S. 1123, the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act. If...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono announced she will support bipartisan, bicameral legislation to increase the number of residency slots available through Medicare to help address the growing physician shortage in Hawaii and across the country.   The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (S. 348) would...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees, issued the following statement after the naming of a new aircraft carrier after Petty Officer Doris Miller, whose bravery and patriotism during the attack on Pearl Harbor...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement after voting in favor of the New NAFTA in the Senate: “Too often, free trade agreements have favored corporate interests over protections for workers and the environment. When Donald Trump unveiled his replacement for the North American Free Trade...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  The United States Senate unanimously passed the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, legislation introduced by Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). The bill creates a foundation to respond to debris, a prize for innovation, enhances...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced the bipartisan Inspiring Nationally Vibrant Economies Sustaining Tribes Act (INVEST Act), legislation to promote new investments in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) introduced the Extinction Prevention Act. This bill would provide funds to protect a wide variety of threatened and endangered species throughout the nation, including Pacific Island plants, North...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, issued the following statement on the U.S. airstrikes that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. “General Soleimani was a reprehensible figure responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American service members...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, successfully enacted improvements to federal contracting and research programs that will benefit Hawaii small businesses into law. Passed in the Senate as part of the FY2020 National...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United States Senate advanced an eight-bill appropriations package that includes important priorities for Hawaii secured by Senator Mazie K. Hirono. The legislation, which funds and renews a range of domestic and international programs from the national Flood Insurance Program to energy production tax credits...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono paid tribute to the victims of the shooting at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard today during remarks on the floor of the United States Senate today. Today marks the two weeks since the tragic events of December 4, 2019. From Senator Hirono’s Remarks: “Mr. President, two weeks ago today, the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono successfully advocated for $21 million in federal funding for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) to build a new field station in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in the year end spending package making its way through Congress. The field station is instrumental for HVO to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate passed legislation authored by Senator Hirono that would require all windows in military housing 42 inches or lower off the floor to be equipped with a fall protection device. Named after seven-year-old Hawaii resident Evan English, the updated provision was included in the Conference Report of the FY2020...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier today, the U.S. Senate passed legislation authored by Senator Hirono that would significantly reduce the lengthy hiring process for qualified childcare providers on military installations by expanding direct hire authority. This provision was included in the Conference Report of the FY2020 National Defense...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wrote to Seema Verma, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), requesting that CMS extend the Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment deadline for 2020 by two hours to accommodate residents of Hawaii and...