Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-Hawai‘i) and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai‘i) today introduced a resolution celebrating Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i, also known as Hawaiian Language Month. “This February, we celebrate Mahina ‘Olelo Hawai‘i and the people, schools, and programs that work every day to preserve the Hawaiian language and culture,” said Senator Schatz, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “The...

WASHINGTON – Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) underscored President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ efforts to cut taxes for billionaires, while making working families foot the bill as they struggle with soaring prices, persistent air safety concerns, and growing threats to public health. “The price of eggs has gone up by 15%, which is the single biggest monthly increase in ten years. Price of coffee is up 25% since the start of the year, and...

U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) today introduced a bill to strengthen the collection of weather and soil moisture data, improving the accuracy of extreme weather warnings and agriculture forecasts. The Improving Flood and Agricultural Forecasts Act of 2025 codifies and expands the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Mesonet Program, an initiative that aims to fill gaps in local weather data that impact forecasting and disaster response, as...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure that hospitals in Hawai‘i caring for large numbers of Medicaid and uninsured patients receive their fair share of federal funding. The Fair Funding for Rural Hospitals Act would establish a national federal funding minimum for disproportionate share hospitals (DSH). Current payment levels are based on an outdated formula. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Kevin Cramer...

WASHINGTON – Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) underscored the troubling record of President Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose efforts in Samoa to deceive families about measles vaccines led to a deadly outbreak that killed more than 80 people, many of whom were young children. Schatz urged his colleagues to vote against RFK Jr. in tomorrow’s confirmation vote. “It’s not often that the stakes of a vote to...

WASHINGTON — At a time when the United States Postal Service (USPS) is under strain due to a lack of carriers and supply shortages, communities across the country have reported struggles in conveying needs to the USPS and have experienced sudden and surprising post office closures. U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced legislation to improve access to local USPS post offices. The Mandating Advisable and Informed Locations and Solutions (MAILS) Act would...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today met with leaders from the Wai‘anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC) and other members of the Hawai‘i Primary Care Association (HPCA) to discuss federal funding that supports the delivery of essential care to people across Hawai‘i, particularly as current community health center funding is set to expire on March 31. “Our community health centers provide essential care to thousands of Hawai‘i families, especially in rural and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) joined members of the Senate Democratic caucus in holding the Senate floor for 30 consecutive hours in order to delay the confirmation of Russell Vought, the right-wing author of Project 2025, to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As one of the chief architects of the radical, right-wing manifesto, Project 2025, Vought’s proposals to broadly slash federal funding threaten Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Vought was...

Legislation Now Moves To Full Senate For Consideration WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act. The bipartisan bill, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper and certain...

Bill Now Moves To Full Senate For Consideration WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved the Kids Off Social Media Act. Authored by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.), the bipartisan legislation will keep kids off social media and help protect them from its harmful impacts. To do...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement after President Donald Trump said the United States will “take over the Gaza Strip.” “A two-state solution, which Democratic and Republican administrations have supported for decades, must continue to be U.S. policy. Palestinians, including those in Gaza, deserve a chance at a better future, one where they can live with dignity and security. Israelis and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, today announced that he will place a blanket hold on all of President Donald Trump’s nominees to the State Department until its illegal attempt to shutter the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency is reversed. On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he would be acting...

WASHINGTON — At yesterday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the “Malign Influence of the People’s Republic of China at Home and Abroad: Recommendations for Policy Makers,” U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) underscored the importance of U.S. leadership and global engagement in advancing American interests. Using the Philippines and Papua New Guinea as examples, Schatz asked witnesses to lay out the dire consequences of U.S. disengagement, as well as the opportunities it would...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after voting against Lee Zeldin's nomination to be Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “In just the last week, Donald Trump banned wind energy and stopped federal funding for clean energy projects – actions that will create an energy shortage and raise people’s energy bills. Republicans aren’t trying to cut costs for people – they’re focused on helping their Big Oil friends make money. And...

WASHINGTON — At today’s Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing for Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) pressed Lutnick on conducting a fair census count, protecting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from Project 2025 threats, consulting with Hawai‘i leaders on Pacific fisheries decisions, and strengthening artificial intelligence (AI) safety. First, Schatz asked Lutnick if he would pledge to carry...

WASHINGTON – Ahead of confirmation hearings this week on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) again urged his colleagues to vote no, highlighting Kennedy’s pivotal role in causing a measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019, which resulted in over 5,700 people getting infected and 83 people – mostly young children – dying. “The unique threat that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. poses to our country really...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today was named Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. Schatz is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This new role will put me in a better position to continue the hard work of strengthening U.S. diplomacy overseas. I’m committed to working with Chairman Graham and my committee colleagues to stand by our friends, partners, and allies around the world, honor our...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) took to the Senate floor today to speak about the Trump Administration's recent decision to freeze all federal grants, ignoring Article I of the Constitution. “There is real pain starting today because of this funding freeze. Schools, child care facilities, fire departments, community health centers, domestic violence shelters all of them will instantly lose their funding at 5 p.m. today because somebody said, ‘we're fiscal conservatives,’” said...

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

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement on the Trump Administration's recent decision to freeze all federal grants. “This Trump shutdown is completely illegal, and we expect the courts will stop this. But what is clear is this: They are creating chaos. They are going after your health care. They are trying to take aid away from people recovering from hurricanes and fires. They’re defunding police departments and firefighters. They’re cutting off...