Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Last week, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and fifteen of their Senate colleagues reintroduced the Access to Birth Control Act, which would require pharmacies and pharmacists to provide women with birth control and emergency contraceptives without undue delay. “Women’s reproductive...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and eight of their U.S. Senate colleagues introduced legislation to close the digital gap facing communities across the country. The Digital Equity Act of 2019 would establish two federal grant programs that would support projects at the state and local...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Congressman Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) reintroduced the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act, which would strengthen the Social Security program by restoring fairness in contributions while increasing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) spoke out against anti-choice legislation that would outlaw abortion after 20 weeks, with very limited exceptions.  The bill, S. 160, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), is a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) reintroduced a package of veterans’ bills that would improve access to health care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as well as prohibit the deportation of veterans who are not violent...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Deputy Inspector General Mary L. Kendall to request she investigate “the suppression of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Last week, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and 20 of their Senate colleagues reintroduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. “Passing a constitutional amendment that guarantees full equality on the basis of sex is long overdue,”...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono issued the following statement on disaster supplemental appropriations legislation:  “Instead of passing an inclusive disaster supplemental, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are picking winners and losers and pitting citizens against each other by playing politics with disaster...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and 18 of their colleagues reintroduced the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act. The bill would increase the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and make it available for more working and middle class families while allowing for parents who...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Earlier this week, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and 26 of their Senate colleagues introduced the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act, which codifies the longstanding practice of U.S. presidents divesting their financial interests and placing them in a blind trust. The bill would prevent...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono pressed Interior Secretary Nominee David Bernhardt to incorporate feedback from Hawaii’s Congressional Delegation and Big Island stakeholders before making any decision to relocate the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) to Oahu. Volcanic activity in 2018 damaged HVO’s facility at the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) secured a commitment from David Bernhardt, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Interior Department, to provide monthly updates on the status of dock repairs at the USS Arizona Memorial during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) have filed a brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Oakland v. BP, arguing that major oil companies...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced the Women and Climate Change Act of 2019, which would affirm the United States’ commitment to empowering women through economic development planning and international climate change policies. It will also...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, pressed Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Robert Wilkie to approve the pending lease for the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access (ALOHA) Project during a Committee hearing today. The ALOHA Project would almost double the VA Pacific...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced her nomination list of 40 students to four of the U.S. military service academies for the Class of 2023. The academies are now considering the students’ applications for final selections.There are five military service academies. Senator Hirono is proud to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement after the release of Attorney General Bill Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report.  “Robert Mueller did not exonerate Donald Trump on obstruction of justice. Instead, Attorney General Bill Barr made his own determination consistent with his...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement after Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to the Attorney General:  “Today, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has concluded his investigation and delivered his report to the Attorney General. His investigation has...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would provide certain civilian federal employees financial relief if they are relocated for work. The Relocation Expense Parity Act would ensure that all...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hawaii Congressional Delegation is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue working to provide much needed relief to Hawaii farmers and agricultural producers who were adversely affected by multiple natural disasters last year, including record-breaking rain events, associated flooding, and a...