In the news

Hawaii Sen. Mazie K. Hirono joined Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), and 14 colleagues to introduce the Keep Americans Safe Act – a proposal to ban the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.“I urge my...

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, was among several senators who grilled former Equifax CEO Richard Smith on a massive data breach that affected 145 million Americans.Smith is testifying at four congressional hearings this week in which lawmakers are demanding to know how the breach happened and what the company was doing to make things right for...

Monk seals and other marine mammals around the state will benefit from a $200,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.The money comes through the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance grant, awarded to Hawaii conservation programs for the recovery and treatment of beached or injured marine animals.“The funding...

Our veterans should always get the very best their country can give them. That’s why we’re pleased to see that the U.S. Senate unanimously approved measures authored by Sen. Mazie K. Hirono to continue critical programs that address veterans homelessness, provide nursing home care for disabled Hawaii veterans, and keep open the Department of...

In this world of political unrest, threats of war, accusations of racism and childish name-calling and insults, it’s nice when you hear of a program between countries that it seems no one could oppose and, really, just makes sense.And what is this program?Sen. Mazie K. Hirono recently announced that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department...

At a raucous hearing on Capitol Hill Monday, a U.S. senator who is fighting Stage IV kidney cancer gave an impassioned plea to her colleagues to reject Republican attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying health care is not “a commodity that can be bought and sold.”Mazie Hirono, a Democratic senator from Hawaii, was shocked five months ago...

For Senator Mazie Hirono, D–Hawaii, healthcare policy isn’t an abstract issue. It’s a very real reality. A few months ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer, which is why I wasn’t surprised to see her name pop up as one of the testifiers on the latest Republican attempt to destroy your healthcare.It was 2pm on Monday, Sept. 25 (8am Hawaii...

Hawaii U-S Senator Mazie Hirono questioned top Navy officials Tuesday about the factors leading to the recent collision involving ships in the Seventh Fleet. This year, four Navy Ships were involved in incidents, Two, the U-S-S Fitzgerald and the U-S-S McCain, were involved in major collision, which left 17 service members dead.“And so the culture...

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono is among a list of 46 prominent female leaders selected for Time Magazine’s special, multimedia project, “FIRSTS: Women Who are Changing the World.”A special double issue hits stands on Monday, while a hardcover book is due to be released on Tuesday.Hirono, named by Time as the first Asian-American woman to be elected to the...

Just a week after the Trump administration announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Asian-American members of Congress came together to speak out for Dreamers. The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) hosted a press conference on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to pass the Dream Act, which...

It makes sense for the leaders of local small businesses and county governments to fly 4,800 miles every year to visit a hill. That’s because when you are on Capitol Hill, there are opportunities all around you.“As of today,” says Kauai mayor Bernard Carvalho, his voice reaching a crescendo, “I can announce that the U.S. Highways Administration...

Over the past eight months, we’ve all been forced to adjust to a painful new reality in Washington.We have a president who has thus far not provided the consistent, thoughtful or moral leadership this country needs.In the absence of presidential leadership, Congress must step up to address the challenges we face and move our country forward.For the...

"The Senate needs a lot more diversity, and I bring quadruple diversity."I am the only immigrant serving in the U.S. Senate right now. I was almost 8 when my mother bravely brought her children to this country so we could have a chance at a better life. She figured out early on that she didn’t have a traditional daughter. She never once asked me...

As she sat in the Senate, readying a final speech against the Republican Party’s last-ditch attempt to repeal Obamacare, Mazie Hirono’s (D-HI) thoughts drifted to her torso.A month earlier, she’d undergone surgery stemming from a kidney cancer diagnosis. Doctors took out her seventh rib and with it a tumor. In place of bone was now a 7-inch long...

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono on Friday won praise for a deeply personal and passionate plea on the Senate floor against repealing Obamacare in which she referred to her stage 4 kidney cancer diagnosis and asked her colleagues, “Where is your compassion?”Political pundits said Thursday night’s speech could elevate Hirono’s profile across the country and...

Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, called on her Republican colleagues Thursday night to vote against the Obamacare repeal, and show the American people the same compassion they showed her after her cancer diagnosis in May. Prior to the Senate narrowly defeating the bill that would have repealed portions of Obamacare, Hirono stood in the...

Health care is safe (for now) after months of fighting. Arizona Senator John McCain may be getting the praise for his vote Thursday against the GOP's plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but the most powerful speech of the night came from one of his Democratic colleagues—one who is also battling cancer.Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono called out her...

In the months since Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, her crusade to save the Affordable Care Act has only intensified.Doctors discovered the cancer in May and removed Hirono’s right kidney soon after. Weeks later, the 69-year-old underwent another surgery to have a lesion removed from one of her ribs ? but not before...

Steve Inskeep talks to Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii about her party's strategy going forward as Republicans tried to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:The many people we're hearing responding to the news include Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who joins us now by Skype....