In the News

The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm the first Native Hawaiian woman as a federal district court judge. Shanlyn Park was confirmed Thursday in a 53 - 45 vote. She will serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court of Hawai‘i. She has been a state circuit court judge since 2021. She previously worked in private practice and at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Hawai‘i. Born and raised in Hawai?i, Park is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Brian Schatz announced Wednesday that the U.S. Senate voted 57-41 to confirm Micah Smith to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai‘i. Smith was recommended to President Biden by Schatz, Sen. Mazie Hirono and a merit-based Federal Judicial Selection Commission. “Throughout his career, Micah Smith has proven to be a fair and impartial jurist,” Schatz said. “It’s the reason he was confirmed with broad bipartisan support. He has the legal acumen, as...

A bipartisan bill introduced late Wednesday would increase penalties for child labor violations, create new criminal penalties and allow victims who are harmed by child labor violations to file civil lawsuits.  The new legislative effort from Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., comes amid a 69% increase in child labor violations, according to figures from the Labor Department. “Recent data shows that child labor exploitation is not a thing of the past or a problem limited...

WASHINGTON (Island News) - The Suicide Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) has presented $17.3 million in funding to go towards the Hawaii State Department of Health, aiding in emergency behavioral health support for the survivors of the Maui wildfires. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz followed with the statement, "The people of Maui have experienced so much loss, trauma, and grief, and addressing the mental health toll is just as important as dealing with the physical damage. This new...

Given how bitterly polarized Washington is today, it’s rare when leaders of both parties agree on something. Yet in the weeks following the devastating fires on Maui, that’s exactly what we’ve seen. We’ve repeatedly heard from President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and colleagues on both sides of the aisle that they are committed to helping Maui. Many of them, including the president and speaker, have visited Maui to see the destruction in person. They heard heartbreaking stories from...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz made no specific funding proposal, but detailed the events that led up to the Aug. 8 Lahaina fire and the ongoing suffering in a speech before Congress on Tuesday. “Americans all share the responsibility of providing relief to these survivors,” Schatz said. “Because while Maui is today’s victim of extreme weather, it may very well be another state tomorrow. We have already seen so much damage this summer in Florida, California, Vermont, Louisiana and more. These...

HONOLULU (KITV4) – On the floor of the US Senate Tuesday, Hawaii U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz discussed the need for more federal support after the Maui fire disaster. Schatz delivered a speech discussing the recent tragic events that occurred on Maui and the many lives that were negatively impacted because of it. He spoke about the various efforts of organizations, government officials, first responders, and everyday people who gave a helping hand at a time where the devastation was all around...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to underscore the scale of the devastation in Lahaina and appeal to his colleagues for more federal aid. “The people of Maui are mourning unimaginable losses, but they’re also facing uncertain futures,” Schatz said, noting that many have lost their jobs in addition to loved ones and their homes. Some 1,900 residences were destroyed in the flames and 5,000 people displaced. The death toll from the fire stands at...

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Sen. Brian Schatz is keeping attention on Maui from Washington. He gave a speech on the floor emphasizing the need to keep federal money and resources flowing to the island. “The people of Maui are mourning unimaginable losses, but they’re also confronting an uncertain future. How long will it take to find a permanent home? When will they find a stable job again? Where were the kids go to school this fall. But if there is any reason for hope and all of this devastation, it’s...

Members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation have introduced bipartisan legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up a new registry to track and collect health data from people who were exposed to tap water laced with jet fuel from the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility in 2021. The Red Hill Health Impact Act also would require the federal agency to work with health experts to conduct a 20-year study to assess any long-term health effects on...

I was bored and browsing Twitter and came upon a stream from U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, apparently equally bored on a flight home to Hawaii from Washington. “On airplane ask me anything!” he tweeted. Bold, I thought. If I were to post such an invitation, I’d get a lot of, “Who the f$&k are you?” But for a U.S. senator, there are multitudes living online for such moments, and he got steady questions both serious and light. >> “What book(s) are you...

Hawaii will receive $149.5 million in new federal funding to expand high-speed internet access across the state, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Monday. The new funding from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, also known as BEAD, will be used to help build and improve broadband infrastructure, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said. “This new funding will help us expand broadband infrastructure across the state, and help make sure more people...

Thomas Raffipiy planned to retire with his wife in Yap after serving more than 30 years in the U.S. Army. But accessing his medication at his island home is nonexistent. The Yapese veteran has been living on Hawai'i Island to receive medical services through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Raffipiy said he'll be on medication for the rest of his life. "If I go home, it's a suicide. It shouldn't have to be that way," Raffipiy said. "The VA was created to help veterans live a normal life or as...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen Brian Schatz has become a vocal advocate for expanding research into therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs such as ketamine, MDMA, LSD and psilocybin to treat depression, anxiety, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. “For me, this isn’t about whether psychedelics should be legalized for recreational purposes,” Schatz said. “This is about continuing the research that showed promise in the 1970s for people with severe, persistent mental...

Ovenny Jermeto was on a combat tour 7,000 miles away from his island home in the Pacific when a bomb blew up his vehicle in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. He survived and completed his deployment, but later lost feeling in his right foot and struggled with anxiety and depression. He returned to the United States to finish his enlistment, eventually getting discharged on medical grounds. Then, he had to make a difficult decision: remain in the United States for free health care or...

The first time Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) tried to abolish the debt limit, he pleaded with lawmakers to “stop these attempts to govern through threats” that put the economy at risk. That was in 2017, the same year that a Republican revolt brought the United States within weeks of a catastrophic default. But Congress did nothing to change the underlying law that September, nor when he and other Democrats tried again in 2019, and 2021, and just...

Brian Schatz, a Democrat, represents Hawaii in the U.S. Senate; Tom Cotton, a Republican, represents Arkansas; Chris Murphy, a Democrat, represents Connecticut; Katie Boyd Britt, a Republican, represents Alabama. Do you know which social media apps your children are on? Do you understand how those apps might harm them? Few parents, no matter how diligent or tech savvy, can confidently answer “yes” to those questions. This should concern everyone. Kids on social media are vulnerable...

The mental-health crisis facing America's teenagers is motivating an unusual group of senators — two progressive Democrats and a pair of conservative Republicans — to join forces. The Democrats — Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut — and the Republicans — Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama — are all parents of young kids or teenagers. They unveiled legislation recently that limits access to social media...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Katie Britt says she hears about it constantly when she is at home in Alabama — at school track meets, basketball tournaments and on her regular morning walks with friends. And when she was running for the Senate last year, Britt says, “parent after parent” came up to her wanting to discuss the way social media was harming their kids. Britt also navigates the issue in her own home, as the mother of a 13-year-old and a...

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced legislation that aims to protect children from any harmful effects posed by using social media. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media apps, such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and would require parental consent for 13- to 17-year-olds. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said earlier this year that 13 is too young to join social media. The bill would ban social media...