Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. “The speech that was written for the President was conventional in terms of Republican policies, but the actions of this administration in its early days have been radical and reckless. I will continue to work with my colleagues to seek opportunities for bipartisan compromise on behalf of Hawai‘i...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced his subcommittee assignments for the 115th Congress. Senator Schatz is a member of the Committees on Appropriations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Indian Affairs; and Ethics. He also serves as Chief Deputy Whip of the Senate Democratic Caucus. Appropriations Subcommittees: Military Construction and Veterans Affairs – Ranking Member Defense Labor, Health and Human...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced today the names of 43 students nominated to attend one of our nation’s service academies. The four service academies are: the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. “These nominees are some of Hawai‘i’s best and brightest students and represent a new generation of future military...

WASHINGTON – The Hawai‘i congressional delegation introduced legislation to ensure the Navy, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) meet their obligations to the State of Hawai‘i to protect drinking water and improve the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Oahu. “The EPA, the Navy, and the State agree that protecting the aquifer that supplies Oahu’s drinking water is essential,” said U.S. Senator Brian Schatz...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (FEPPLA), legislation that would provide federal employees with six weeks of paid leave, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, for the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child. “While private companies across the country are beginning to see the benefits of providing paid family leave, the United States is...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement in opposition to confirming Steven Mnuchin as secretary of the treasury. “Steven Mnuchin has a troubling business record using predatory business tactics. The United States government entrusted his company, OneWest, to help seniors and working families stay in their homes during the housing crisis. His company did the exact opposite, preying on vulnerable homeowners and profiting from it....

WASHINGTON – Today, a group of senators led by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a review of the actions and costs associated with President Donald Trump's recent executive orders to construct a wall on the southern border and to restrict refugees and immigrants from certain Muslim-majority nations. “Each of these executive orders will likely require significant new action on the part of the relevant...

WASHINGTON – Following the release of a proposal from a group of Republican leaders that would cut carbon pollution and fight climate change through a carbon fee, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), co-chair of the Climate Action Task Force, issued the following statement. “This proposal from a well-respected group of Republicans is an important step in the right direction and proof that cutting carbon pollution and fighting man-made climate change is not a partisan...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), and 25 other Democratic senators introduced the Scientific Integrity Act, a bill that would prevent political appointees from re-writing scientific findings and guarantee that federal science is free and open to the public.  The bill responds to recent gag orders from the Trump Administration against federal scientists in agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement in opposition to efforts to roll back the Cardin-Lugar amendment, a bipartisan rule that combats corruption in mineral-rich developing countries. “In 2010, the United States set a new international standard for anti-corruption by passing the Cardin-Lugar amendment, which requires oil and mining companies to report payments they’ve made to foreign governments. When some 30 countries...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) introduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, a bill that would provide federal employees with a 3.2 percent pay increase in 2018. The bill is a response to federal employees having lost more than a billion dollars in wages due to sequestration and a three-year freeze on federal pay. Original cosponsors of the bill include U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Chris...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement on President Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court. “Supreme Court nominees should be held to the highest standards, because the Court has the final word on rights that are fundamental to the lives of Americans: our right to privacy, reproductive rights, the right to vote, and equal justice under the law. “I am disappointed the President has nominated...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) introduced legislation that would exempt employees of Navy public shipyards and other employees that directly support the shipyards from President Trump’s federal hiring freeze. Original cosponsors of the Senate bill include U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) The Trump administration’s...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced his support of legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy’s (D-Conn.) that would block President Trump’s recent anti-refugee and anti-immigrant executive order. The bill would withhold any funding to enforce the executive order and declares it illegal based on the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. “I am pleased to support Senator Murphy’s legislation to reverse the travel ban on...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement in opposition to confirming Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. “The secretary of state is our nation’s top diplomat. He or she is responsible for advancing our national interests and keeping true to our core values. That means this person must have the knowledge base and skill set to represent American principles and pursue peace through diplomacy. After reviewing his record and his...

WASHINGTON  – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement announcing he will vote against President Trump’s nomination of U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for United States Attorney General. “Our next attorney general will face critical challenges that will test our justice system and our values. We will need a leader committed to protecting the rights of every American, regardless of race, religion, gender, national origin,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.), U.S. Representative Tim Walz (D-Minn.), and a group of 52 members of Congress called on President Trump to exempt the entire VA and all veterans seeking federal jobs from his executive order that freezes federal hiring. The members say Trump’s hiring freeze will have devastating impacts on...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement on reports that President Donald Trump will take action today to advance the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. “The Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines are simply not in our national interest. While countries like China and Germany continue to make progress in their transition away from the dirty energy of the past, this action will roll back the progress we have made. Encouraging the...

WASHINGTON – Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the official designation of the He‘eia National Estuarine Research Reserve. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) has been a strong supporter of the site, and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has worked to increase NOAA’s budget for research reserves like the one proposed in He'eia, Kãne'ohe Bay. “The He‘eia Reserve recognizes Native Hawaiian and...

WASHINGTON – Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of senators in calling on Senate Republicans to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.  In his remarks, Senator Schatz outlined Scott Pruitt’s record of undermining the EPA and denying man-made climate change. “Scott Pruitt is a professional climate denier. That...