In the News

The U.S. Senate passed a measure on Thursday that would expand Veterans Administration health care for veterans with health conditions related to burn pit and Agent Orange exposure. U.S. Sen Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, helped to negotiate the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. Both she and Hawaii colleague Sen. Brian Schatz voted in favor of the measure, which passed on a 84-14...

Sen. Brian Schatz doesn’t want the Senate to get left behind after a year of House action aimed at improving staff retention. The Hawaii Democrat, who has championed the cause in the past, sent a letter to Senate Legislative Branch appropriators pushing for a 20 percent bump to the allowance that senators use to pay their staffers. It could be a long shot, since Republicans seem reluctant to hike office budgets again after providing a modest increase last year of 5...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, praised President Joe Biden’s action Monday to declare a two-year tariff exemption on solar panels produced by four Southeast Asian countries currently under investigation by the commerce department for allegedly violating anti-dumping rules imposed on imports from China. The president is also invoking the Defense Production Act to increase manufacturing of solar panels, insulation and other clean energy technology. “This move will unfreeze supply...

More than $1.7 million in additional federal funding will be awarded to Hawaii to help protect native forest birds, waterbirds, seabirds, and yellow-faced bees, according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. Schatz said the additional funds from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would go to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources to support conservation projects on Hawaii island, Kauai, Maui and Oahu. “Our native bird and bee populations are in danger due to shrinking habitats,...

As the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 plot prepares to kick off its first public hearing, a bipartisan group of senators huddled Wednesday in the Capitol to negotiate new laws to prevent future candidates from stealing elections. Two sources familiar with the group’s work said it is close to a deal, having settled on a series of new provisions and working through options on one major unresolved issue. “We’ve made a lot of major...

Native Hawaiian leaders told U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs this week that more funding and program access is needed from Washington to better fulfill the government’s federal trust responsibility. Schatz, who chairs the Indian Affairs Committee, wrapped up the second of two field hearings Thursday at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The first hearing was held Wednesday at UH Manoa’s East-West Center. On Wednesday, Schatz said it was the...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz took testimony Thursday from seven Native Hawaiian community leaders in East Hawaii, at Hale ‘Olelo, the College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a hearing called “Upholding The Federal Trust Responsibility: Funding and Program Access For Innovation In The Native Hawaiian Community.” According to a statement from Schatz, as chairman, he’s...

A bipartisan group of legislators in the House and Senate struck a deal on data privacy legislation Friday, proposing a bill that would allow users to opt out of targeted advertisements and to sue Internet companies that improperly sell their data. The legislation, though, faces a steep uphill climb to become law. Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are still hoping to recruit more supporters, namely Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.),...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, held a hearing with Native Hawaiian leaders on Wednesday to hear their concerns with the federal government. The hearing was divided into two sessions. The first one focused on Native Hawaiian housing and economy with representatives of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. William Aila Jr., chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, chanted...

In the wake of unprecedented federal funding for the Native Hawaiian Community, Senator Brian Schatz scheduled two congressional committee hearings in the islands. Schatz is a chairman in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which held a field hearing in Honolulu on Wednesday. Another one is set for Hilo on Thursday. The federal government has a trust responsibility to Native Hawaiians, just like it does with American Indians and Alaskan Natives, and that trust responsibility must be met. And...

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D- Hawai‘i) announced that Hawai‘i will receive $14.092 million in funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Servic, and U.S. Geological Survey to protect threatened and endangered local forest birds from extinction. The funding will help recover species including the ‘akikiki and ‘akeke‘e on Kaua‘i and the kiwikiu and ‘akohekohe on Maui. “Avian malaria from invasive mosquitoes has devastated our...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, called on U.S. commerce secretary Gina Raimondo Wednesday to be more engaged and open in helping to resolve a tariff investigation that threatens to derail the domestic solar energy industry. In a tense exchange with Raimando during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, Schatz repeatedly emphasized the urgency of the situation and the need for Raimando to be more personally engaged. “I want to know that you are alarmed and I want to know that you...

A measure authored by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz to improve data collection and analysis of online crimes in the U.S. was signed into law today, according to his office. President Joe Biden signed the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act, which passed the U.S. Senate in December and the U.S. House of Representatives in March. “By collecting data on how often, when, and where cyberattacks are happening, our bipartisan bill will better protect people in Hawaii from online crimes like those against our...

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of 10senators in introducing a resolution to support the designation of April 2022 as “Preserving Local News Month.” The resolution recognizes local news as a public good that serves an essential function in the democracy of the United States. “People across the country rely on local news to stay informed, fight disinformation, and strengthen their communities. As the industry faces newsroom closures and budget cuts,...

Congressional earmarks are back, and for Hawaii that means hundreds of millions of dollars in new federal spending. In March, President Joe Biden signed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that will fund the government through September. Buried in the line items are billions of dollars members of Congress set aside for special projects in their states and districts. Hawaii’s federal delegation was able to secure more than $265 million for dozens of projects in the islands. There’s...

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Tuesday unexpectedly pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland on clemency for Leonard Peltier, the Native American rights activist who has been in prison for 46 years without any evidence that he committed a crime. “What is your position on clemency for Leonard Peltier?” Schatz asked Garland, who was testifying before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about President Joe Biden’s 2023 budget request for the Justice...

The U.S. Department of Justice has withdrawn its lawsuit filed in federal and state courts in February contesting the state’s emergency order instructing the Navy to drain its Red Hill fuel tanks. The order issued by the state Department of Health followed a fuel spill that contaminated the Navy’s drinking water system and sickened residents in neighborhoods around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. “By dismissing its appeals, it is acknowledging that the Department of Health can...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, met with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Wednesday to discuss Brown’s record and judicial philosophy. Without revealing details of their conversation, Schatz declared Jackson “exceptionally qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.” “Throughout her years of public service, she has demonstrated a dedication to the Constitution, including a strong commitment to equal justice under the law,” Schatz said....

U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, joined colleagues in both chambers in calling on President Joe Biden to extend the pandemic-based pause on federally held student loan payments until the end of the year and to consider outright student debt cancellation. In all, 21 senators and 76 representatives signed off on a letter the Biden administration asking for the extension beyond the current May 1, 2022, expiration date.  “Given the fast-approaching deadline...