Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Last week, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure deal into law, which includes a provision authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) that will extend the deadline for $493 million in grant funding for the Honolulu Rail Transit project. The federal funds, a portion of the $1.55 billion federal grant for the project, were set to expire at the end of the year if left unspent. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Schatz worked with...

WASHINGTON – Following an appropriations provision authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) to designate Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument as a National Marine Sanctuary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today officially began the process for designation. Following this initiation, NOAA will begin public meetings and the formal legal process to complete the requirements to finalize an official designation. “Papahanaumokuakea is a...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that Hawai‘i will receive more than $2 million to fund coastal resilience projects and protect communities from flooding across the state. “These projects will restore or expand wetlands, beaches, and forests and will help keep homes and businesses safe from flooding and coastal erosion,” said Senator Schatz. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement today congratulating Suzanne Vares-Lum on her appointment to be the next president of the East-West Center. “I congratulate Suzanne Vares-Lum on this well-deserved appointment to be the next president of the East-West Center,” said Senator Schatz. “As a Native Hawaiian woman, a former major general in the Army, and a...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) today introduced the Build More Housing Near Transit Act. The bipartisan legislation continues Senator Schatz’s efforts to address America’s housing shortage by offering federal benefits and encouraging local governments to build more high-density housing near transit-oriented urban spaces, where options are especially lacking. “We have a national housing shortage crisis, and one thing is...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) will receive $22 million in new federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to support a realignment of the Honoapiilani Highway in West Maui and protect it from sea level rise. “This new federal funding will keep Honoapiilani Highway safe and functional by responding to coastal erosion caused by climate change and help local families...

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law. The sweeping law, which U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) voted to pass in the Senate in August, includes at least $2.8 billion for Hawai‘i to repair roads and bridges and make them more resilient to climate change, improve public transportation options for residents, and strengthen high-speed internet access in Native Hawaiian communities and across...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced the Student Veterans Transparency and Protection Act. The bipartisan legislation would improve veterans’ access to information about higher education and allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to restore benefits that veterans...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to take concrete steps to reform the credit reporting industry. Specifically, the senators urged Director Rohit Chopra to use the CFPB’s...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal that includes at least $2.8 billion in estimated funding for Hawai‘i. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) voted to pass in the Senate in August, includes funding to repair roads and bridges and make them more resilient to climate change, improve public transportation options for residents, and strengthen...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-Hawai‘i) and Kaiali‘i Kahele (D-Hawai‘i) today called on the Navy to provide more information on the March 2020 fuel leak near Hotel Pier at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. In a letter to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, the delegation also requested more details on the Navy’s response to discovering the leak, including its compliance with...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal to reverse the previous administration’s harmful BOP policy which increased transgender prisoners’ risk of sexual victimization. The letter...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) reintroduced the Safeguarding American Families and Expanding Social Security (SAFE Social Security) Act, legislation to expand Social Security for seniors and families in Hawai‘i and across the country. The bill would increase benefits on average by more than $115 per month, ensure the cost of living adjustments adequately reflect the living expenses of retirees, extend the life of the trust fund, remove the wage cap to...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) reintroduced legislation to expand access to education for Americans in federal prisons. The Promoting Reentry through Education in Prisons (PREP) Act would create an office within the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) focused on correctional education and fund a new program to address the lack of educational opportunities currently offered. “Research shows that one of the best ways to break the cycle of recidivism is...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), John Thune (R-S.D.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today called on President Joe Biden to provide more U.S. leadership and step up efforts to increase global vaccine access to fight the...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Andy Levin (D-Mich.) introduced new legislation to keep workers safe by requiring the publication of workplace violations. The Keeping Workers Safe Act directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to announce major violations by companies and distribute them to local media and related labor and trade organizations, a practice which has been shown to boost workplace safety. “We...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) reintroduced the State Justice Improvement Act, legislation that will make lasting changes to America’s criminal justice system. Across the country, courts often impose fines and fees without considering an individual’s ability to pay – disproportionately impacting low income communities and communities of color. This legislation provides state and local courts with new and expanded federal funding...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that the Department of the Interior has awarded $600,000 in new grant funding to support local organizations that are working to preserve and share Native Hawaiian culture and traditions with visitors. The funding was made possible by the NATIVE Act, a law authored by Senator Schatz to integrate native tourism, empower native communities, and expand unique...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) voiced their opposition to Facebook’s revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency (“Diem”) and digital wallet (“Novi”). In light of yet another scandal involving Facebook’s failure to protect its users, the...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) introduced legislation to prevent youth suicide, the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-24. The Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act would fund suicide prevention initiatives, ensure health care providers receive training to prevent intentional harm, and create a centralized hub to provide safety information to at-risk youth and their support networks. “Youth suicide is a crisis in...