Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted today to approve a constitutional amendment to help curb unlimited corporate spending in elections. Hirono forcefully rebutted Republican arguments by presenting the historical precedence for amending the U.S. Constitution in order to improve our...

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) called on President Barack Obama to humanely address the surge of unaccompanied children at the Southern U.S. Border. The Senators’ letter notes that the Administration’s response to this...

HONOLULU – Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement denouncing today’s U.S. Supreme Court Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., decision that allows corporations to exclude contraceptive coverage from their employees’ health care insurance plans: “In yet another sharply divided 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the passage of S.744, the Senate’s immigration reform bill: “Today marks one year since the Senate came together on a bipartisan basis to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. As our country waits for the House to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono voted today to confirm Hawaii’s Esther Kiaaina as Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). Kiaaina was confirmed unanimously by voice vote. Hirono had previously introduced Kiaaina’s nomination during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono voted today to pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), bipartisan legislation to update the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. The bill improves the nation’s workforce development system by streamlining programs, increasing efficiency and helping local businesses find...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Conference Committee, gave an opening statement on Hawaii wait times at the committee’s first meeting. The committee is working on a compromise version of the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act,...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, commonly known as Title IX. This landmark federal law requires gender equity in federally-supported education programs and athletics: “When Title IX...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Department of the Interior released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding “Procedures for Reestablishing a Government-to-Government Relationship with the Native Hawaiian Community.” The purpose of this ANPRM is to solicit public comments on whether and how the Department of the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono announced a grant of more than $2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for upgrades at Hilo International Airport. This grant will fund the installation of approximately 12,500 linear feet of perimeter fencing to deter unauthorized persons, vehicles and wildlife from...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono announced a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to the University of Hawaii for energy research. This grant comes as part of the DOE’s nationwide initiative to advance hydrogen production and delivery technologies to produce, deliver and dispense hydrogen at a cost...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced the Veterans Emergency Health Safety Net Expansion Act of 2014. This legislation expands access to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) emergency safety net to all VA-enrolled veterans...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Services Committees, voted to pass the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act. This bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by Hirono, was introduced in response to widely-reported problems with the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement today reaffirming her support for comprehensive immigration reform and expressing her outrage with the recent situation where unaccompanied children have been detained near the southern U.S. Border. Hirono urged her colleagues and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees, released the following statement on data revealed today showing Honolulu’s Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center has the longest average wait time – 145 days – in the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono applauded today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting renewal requests for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for undocumented immigrant children. “I commend the Department of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono and her colleagues on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee released the Ensuring Veterans Access to Care Act today to improve administration and increase accountability at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in order to quickly expand access to medical care for veterans. The Senate...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono applauded today’s new proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants by 30 percent by 2030. “Today’s announcement by the EPA is a significant, historic development in the global fight against climate change,”...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono issued the following statement congratulating David Lassner on his appointment by the University of Hawaii (UH) Board of Regents to be the 15th president of the UH system.“I have no doubt David’s experience and relationships will serve him well as President of the University of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Armed Services and the Veterans’ Affairs committees, released the following statement on today’s resignation of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki. “General Eric Shinseki’s patriotism and dedication to this nation is...