Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) successfully secured a number of provisions in the Bipartisan Disaster Supplemental Bill to assist individuals and communities in Hawaii impacted by natural disasters in 2018. The $19.1 billion measure passed the Senate on an 85-8 vote. “Last year’s natural disasters...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019 – a bipartisan legislation to close a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 that prevented internationally-adopted children from receiving U.S....

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act, a bill that would expedite the visa process for children of Filipino World War II veterans. Representatives Ed Case (D-Hawaii) and Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced companion legislation in the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with six of their U.S. Senate colleagues, introduced the Youth Access to Sexual Health Services (YASHS) Act. The YASHS Act would authorize the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants that support access to sexual health...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this month, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and eight of their U.S. Senate colleagues sent a letter to Facebook to demand the social media giant do more to block gun sales facilitated on its social media enterprises, Facebook and Instagram. In their letter to Facebook Chairman and CEO...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) sent a letter to Lee Francis Cissna, the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Chad Wolf, the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary at the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, and urged them to take immediate action...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that University of Hawaii West Oahu (UHWO) will receive nearly $2.5 million in support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve college readiness and success for Native Hawaiian high school and college students, and provide them with STEM learning...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced legislation to better inform the public about the effects that sunscreen chemicals have on coral reefs around the world. The Oxybenzone and Octinoxate Impact Study Act of 2019 would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) sent letters to Robert L. Sumwalt, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Dan Elwell, the Acting Administrator at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), over safety concerns following a deadly helicopter crash last week in a residential area of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along with U.S. Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), introduced the Protecting American Consumers from Robocalls Act. The bill would help end illegal robocalls in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) welcomed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO’s) announcement that it had extended its full-time telework program, the Telework Enhancement Act Pilot Program (TEAPP), to Hawaii and Alaska. The decision to extend TEAPP follows Senator Hirono’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Angus King (I-Maine) introduced S.Res.177, a resolution supporting the designation of April 30, 2019, as “National Adult Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day.” Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver transmitted via infected blood and other body fluids and is...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) led 11 Senators in urging Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility Corey Amundson to investigate Attorney General William Barr’s conduct while handling Special Counsel Robert...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this month, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with nine of her colleagues, sent a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies to request $50 million in funding to the U.S. Department...

HONOLULU – In a visit to Honolulu Police Department (HPD) Headquarters today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono highlighted the important role federal funding played in helping Hawaii law enforcement clear a backlog of 1,500 untested rape kits statewide. In 2016, the Office of the Hawaii Attorney General successfully applied for, received, and utilized...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Last week, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and twenty-one of their U.S. Senate colleagues reintroduced the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act to ensure thousands of Navy veterans, known as “Blue Water” Navy veterans, would become eligible to receive...

HONOLULU, HI – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that three Hawaii organizations have received over $4.76 million in AmeriCorps funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency responsible for AmeriCorps and other national service programs. Funding from CNCS will go to Kupu, Teach...

HANOI, VIETNAM – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) released the following statement following the release of the redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report: “Despite the Attorney General’s attempt to spin the Mueller Report in Donald Trump’s favor, it’s clear the Special Counsel’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) welcomed the decision reached by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior (Interior IG) to open an investigation regarding allegations against Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. Both Senators Hirono and Wyden sent letters...

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...