Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono and her Senate Armed Services Committee colleagues drafted and voted late last week to pass the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act out of committee and to the full Senate for consideration. The bill would provide more than $400 million in military construction projects in Hawaii, $44...

Washington, D.C. - Senator Mazie K. Hirono today released the following statement regarding the announced purchase of the Kapolei Tesoro refinery by Par Petroleum. Par Petroleum Corporation is a Houston-based company that intends to continue Tesoro’s refining, logistics and retail operations. “Today’s announcement that Par...

Washington, D.C. - Senator Mazie K. Hirono met this week with U.S. Secretary of Transportation nominee and Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. During the meeting, Foxx and Hirono discussed the importance of Honolulu’s rail system, for which the city secured a full funding grant agreement in December 2012. Foxx, noting how important...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono today took to the Senate floor to highlight two major flaws in the immigration reform bill currently being debated in the Senate. In her remarks, Hirono pointed out how the new merit-based immigration system that gives preference to potential immigrants with high level education and technical...

In today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the newspaper’s editorial board endorsed Senator Mazie K. Hirono’s measure in the immigration reform bill that would restore Medicaid eligibility for COFA migrants, saving the state millions each year. The editorial board also praised other amendments that Hirono convinced her colleagues to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono voted today during a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee in support of a measure aimed at stopping and prosecuting sexual assaults in the military. The measure would give military prosecutors the power to decide which sexual assault cases to try, taking that power out of the hands of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement after voting for a Democratic proposal to keep student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1 and against a Republican plan that would saddle students with even more debt: Education isn’t just the clearest path to economic opportunity in this country; it’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Hawaii’s congressional delegation introduced a bill today that would make important changes to the Native Hawaiian Education Act, an existing program that has improved educational opportunities for thousands of Native Hawaiian kids and families.  The changes would strengthen and help secure the program’s future...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Mazie K. Hirono, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement upon news that President Obama will appoint U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to be his next National Security Advisor: "Ambassador Susan Rice is a great choice to be President Obama's National Security Advisor. She has had a string...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Begich (D-AK), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) today continued the long legacy of two states working together and working for their native populations. The Senators were joined by roughly 100 Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian business, policy, and community leaders to...

HONOLULU – Senator Mazie K. Hirono met with Hawaii’s health care providers at the Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Health Care Center yesterday and listened as Hawaii health care experts explained how Hirono’s measure restoring Medicaid eligibility for COFA migrants would save the state millions each year. Earlier this month,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement after voting against an amendment to the 2013 Farm Bill that would have killed off Hawaii’s last sugar producer and risked 800 jobs in the state. The amendment failed the Senate on a bipartisan 45-54 vote. “This amendment was a raw deal for Hawaii and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- During today’s Senate Judiciary Committee markup of immigration reform legislation, the committee adopted Senator Mazie K. Hirono’s measure that would reunite Filipino World War II veterans with their families. The long-overdue measure has been the priority of Hawaii’s congressional delegation for many years....

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After many days of work on immigration reform as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement after voting for final passage of the Senate’s immigration reform bill in committee: “I applaud Chairman Leahy, the Gang of Eight and my Judiciary Committee colleagues...

WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved three measures offered by Senator Mazie K. Hirono that support DREAM Act college students and help identify victims of child trafficking at the border. “These DREAMers were brought to our country through no fault of their own, and grew up in our schools and churches. They...

Washington, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono joined her female Senate colleagues last month at the White House for a dinner hosted by President Obama. The first official photo released from the dinner was recently uploaded to the White House’s flickr account.

From the front page of yesterday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Hirono Attaches Proposals That Help Hawaii When Congress approved a sweeping welfare reform law in 1996, a small but important provision cost Hawaii millions of dollars a year. Pacific migrants who can travel freely to the United States from Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono today joined Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), other Senate and House colleagues and survivors of sexual assault in the military in unveiling bipartisan legislation aimed at stopping and prosecuting sexual assaults in the military. Watch Hirono’s full remarks here: http://youtu.be/S-rr1UyuAKg....

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- During the third day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup of immigration reform legislation, the committee adopted Senator Mazie K. Hirono’s measure that would cut government red tape that makes it more difficult for tourists from Hong Kong to come to Hawaii. The measure is identical to a bill Hirono introduced...

Here’s what folks in Hawaii are saying about Mazie Hirono getting Medicaid eligibility for migrants from Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands included in immigration reform legislation: “The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to reinstate eligibility by adopting an amendment from U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono. The Democrat from...