Press Releases

WASHINGTON – As part of the second tranche of a bipartisan appropriations package that Congress passed last week, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) helped secure $20.2 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) which helps Maui and other communities across the country recover from disasters. The funding is in addition to $16 billion Congress allocated for the DRF last fall. Schatz also secured a provision directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to report on its progress in...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the second half of a bipartisan government funding bill which includes $31.8 million in new congressionally directed spending, also known as earmarks, secured by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. The new funding follows nearly $400 million in earmark funding for Hawai‘i secured by Schatz in the first half of the appropriations deal signed into law...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today criticized a new Republican budget proposal which would cut and weaken Medicare and roll back the Affordable Care Act, leaving tens of millions of Americans – including seniors, young people, and people with pre-existing conditions – without health care or paying exorbitant insurance premiums and prescription drug costs. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schatz underscored the disastrous consequences of the proposals if enacted, and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) today reintroduced the State Public Option Act, bicameral legislation to create a Medicaid-based public health insurance option by providing Americans with a new high-quality, low-cost choice when purchasing health insurance. “Even with all of the progress we’ve made in recent years to expand access to health care and make it more affordable, many Americans still lack coverage,” said Senator Schatz. “By opening up...

WASHINGTON – Today, congressional leaders released the second half of a bipartisan appropriations deal that will deliver billions in federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai‘i. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, successfully secured funding for Hawai‘i’s priorities in the final deal. The newly released bills follow the passage of the first half of the spending deal, which included billions in federal funding to improve...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) led six of their Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Telehealth Modernization Act, which updates coverage restrictions that have long prevented life-saving telehealth services for many of the nation’s roughly 65 million Medicare beneficiaries. With telehealth flexibilities set to expire at the end of 2024, this legislation is urgently needed to protect access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and U.S. Representatives Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) and Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) today introduced legislation to curb the sending of sexually explicit images online, also known as cyberflashing, by creating a federal private right of action for victims who receive such images and imposing civil penalties for individuals who send them.  “No one should fall victim to unwanted flashing, whether in real-life or online,”...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of both the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, spoke on the Senate floor to highlight the record $1.34 billion in federal funding for Native housing programs as part of a six-bill Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations package that was passed by Congress and signed into law last week. The new funding is a 30 percent increase from last year. In...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the Honolulu Department of Transportation Services and the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation will receive $19.1 million in federal funding for the construction of a bike and pedestrian bridge over Kamehameha Highway, allowing Pearl City residents to access the Waiawa Skyline Station safely. The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation following Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s visit to O‘ahu last...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Tom Cole (R-La.) – chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing, respectively – secured more than $1.34 billion in funding for Native housing programs as part of a six-bill Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations package that was passed by Congress and signed into law last week. The funding is a record increase of $324 million dollars from last year. “This historic increase in funding will help provide...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, today released the following statement after Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge announced her resignation. “Amid a national housing and homelessness crisis, Secretary Fudge has done an incredible job working in unprecedented times though the pandemic to prevent massive evictions, make housing more affordable,...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the first half of a bipartisan government funding bill which includes $394 million in new congressionally directed spending, also known as earmarks, secured by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Additional earmark funding for Hawai‘i is expected to be included the second half of the funding deal which is set to be announced on March 22. “We are bringing...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed the first half of a bipartisan appropriations deal that will deliver billions in federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai‘i. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, successfully secured funding for Hawai‘i’s priorities in the final deal. The package now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law. “Hawai‘i is to set to receive billions in new federal funding. The new funding...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) this week introduced the Transformational AI to Modernize the Economy (TAME) against Extreme Weather Act, legislation aimed at promoting the adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence to better predict and respond to extreme weather. Each year, extreme weather threatens human life and economic prosperity. Between 2013 and 2022, the federal government...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. “Tonight, we heard President Biden highlight the historic progress we made in just three years. We grew jobs at a record pace, cut the cost of prescription drugs, enacted the biggest climate action in history, improved health care for veterans, and delivered billions in new funding for Hawai‘i, among other things. “But just as the president said:...

Washington, D.C. – With their invited guests to President Biden’s State of the Union Address, Senate Democrats hosted a press conference to continue to call attention to the dangers of abortion bans. Senate Democrats’ State of the Union guests include women who were forced to travel out of state to receive lifesaving abortion care due to abortion bans, abortion clinic directors, providers, and moms who relied on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to start their families. Senate Democrats are...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after the Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH) completed residual fuel removal at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Overall, JTF-RH safely defueled 104,703,574 gallons total from the facility, six months ahead of schedule. “With more than 100 million gallons of fuel removed, the draining of Red Hill is nearly complete. While we still have more work to do to make sure the area is fully cleaned up and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured the inclusion of a $100 million grant program based on his bipartisan ‘Yes In My Backyard’ legislation in the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill, a $15 million increase in funding from last year. In its second year, this first-of-its-kind federal program rewards state and local governments that reform land-use policies and other local barriers that constrain the supply of affordable housing. “We need to legalize housing and abandon the...

Washington, D.C. – With their invited guests to President Biden’s State of the Union Address, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Senate Democrats are continuing to call attention to the dangers of abortion bans passed in states across the country. Senate Democrats’ State of the Union guests include women who were forced to travel out of state to receive lifesaving abortion care due to abortion bans, abortion clinic directors, providers, and moms who relied on in-vitro fertilization (IVF)...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, secured $394 million in new congressional directed spending, also known as earmarks, in the first half of this year’s government funding bill. Additional earmark funding for Hawai‘i is expected to be included the second half of the funding deal which is set to be announced on March 22. “We are bringing home nearly $400 million in new earmark...