Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), vice chairman of the Committee, today announced the release of S.1723, Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act from Committee. The legislation, authored by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), would establish a federal commission to investigate, document, and acknowledge past injustices of the federal government's...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), along with the Senate Democratic Caucus, voted to protect people’s right to use contraception as Republicans escalate attacks on reproductive freedoms. With a vote of 51-39, Republicans blocked the bill from advancing for consideration. Ahead of the vote, Schatz spoke on the Senate floor about the need to enshrine reproductive freedoms into federal statute as Republicans target contraception and IVF in the wake of the Supreme Court’s...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after President Joe Biden announced that he has made additional disaster assistance available to the State of Hawai‘i following the Maui fires. Biden’s authorization increases the federal cost share for federal assistance to 100 percent for an additional 90-day period. “This extension means tremendous savings for the state. By covering the full cost of...

HILO – After securing millions in federal funding in recent years, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, yesterday visited Keauhou Bird Conservation Center and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on Hawai‘i Island. Schatz toured both sites and saw firsthand how the federal dollars were being utilized. “Due to shrinking habitats, disease-carrying mosquitoes, and expanding predator populations, Hawai‘i’s native birds have been at risk of extinction for...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) helped secure provisions in the biennial water resources bill that will support critical flood management and environmental restoration projects across Hawai‘i. The Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, which unanimously passed out of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works last week, authorizes flood control, navigation, and ecosystem protection projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “As climate change...

WASHINGTON – In a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing yesterday, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), the co-author of the STOP Pain Act which was signed into law in 2016, requested an update from the National Institutes of Health on the progress the agency has made on chronic pain research. In questions to Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Schatz asked, “Dr. Volkow, my STOP Pain Act was enacted eight years ago and since then, NIH has funded hundreds...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representatives Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai‘i) and Ed Case (D-Hawai‘i) today introduced new bicameral legislation that would help strengthen and protect health care for seniors in Hawai‘i. The Protecting Access To Care in Hawai‘i (PATCH) Act would provide fair Medicare reimbursements to Hawai‘i providers, helping retain and recruit more doctors and protect access to health care for seniors across the state. “As...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced legislation that would expand transportation access for veterans with disabilities. S.4372, the Deliver for Veterans Act, would expand a Veterans Affairs (VA) grant program to cover shipping costs for disabled veterans who require modified vehicles for transportation. “Disabled veterans deserve access to every benefit they have earned – regardless of where they live,” said Senator Schatz. “Our...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution cosponsored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) recognizing May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. “While AANHPI culture is an integral part of everyday life in Hawai‘i, this month is a chance to lift up and celebrate the incredible contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders across our state and our country.” ###

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today objected to an effort by Senate Republicans to politicize the census and add an unconstitutional question on citizenship. “I have lost count of the number of times that Republicans have tried and failed to add citizenship questions to the census,” said Senator Schatz. “We have to see this for what it is: an attempt to reduce the count in immigrant communities. This was never about enforcing the law. It is a pretext to scare people,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led a group of 11 senators from disaster-impacted states in a letter to President Biden urging the administration to reevaluate and resubmit its request for supplemental disaster funding. In addition to Schatz, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Mazie K. Hirono...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), and U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led 17 colleagues in a letter urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to finalize its ESG Funds Disclosure Rulemaking. “We recommend the final ESG Disclosures Rule include several key elements the SEC proposed: 1) only allowing funds for which ESG factors are a significant or main consideration to use ESG language in their...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which included several provisions authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The bill contains measures to address air tour noise in Hawai‘i, improve air tour safety, help airports adapt to extreme weather, and establish a Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary at the Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after the Biden Administration announced it has paused the transfer of certain offensive weapons to Israel. “Conditioning military aid to Israel is not unprecedented – presidents of both parties have done it before. While Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself, there is no reason we should provide additional destructive offensive weapons that are...

WASHINGTON – At a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) questioned Acting Labor Department Secretary Julie Su on the FY25 budget request, underscored the urgent need to stop child labor, and called for raising penalties for employers who violate child labor laws. Schatz is the author of the Stop Child Labor Act, bipartisan legislation that would increase maximum fines for child labor violations, establish new criminal penalties, allow victims...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, today questioned Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the FY25 defense budget request, called on Secretary Austin to commit to investing in long-term support for the land and the people impacted by the Red Hill fuel leak, and provide a full detailed accounting of federal spending. In questions directed to Secretary Austin, Senator Schatz asked, “The thing that the community is working...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today called on Congress to pass long-term disaster relief funding for impacted communities across the country, including on Maui and Vermont. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schatz underscored the need to pass funding for the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program in order to provide survivors with flexible assistance to rebuild their homes, small businesses, and communities over the long-term. “Disaster survivors...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement in honor of World Press Freedom Day. “A free press is a cornerstone of any healthy democracy – and it’s vital that we protect and defend it, at home and abroad,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The growing attacks on credible, independent journalism are alarming, particularly given the many crises and conflicts happening globally. People rely on journalists to...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced new legislation to keep kids off social media and help protect them from its harmful impacts. The Kids Off Social Media Act updates legislation Schatz introduced last spring and would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and prevent social media...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement in response to new rules from the Biden administration enabling the transfer of tax credits for clean energy projects, as well as a new effort to streamline federal permitting for transmission development. The U.S. Treasury Department issued final rules regarding the transfer of clean energy tax credits created under the Inflation Reduction Act – a move that will lower financing costs, increase flexibility for...