Press Releases

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, (D-HI) applauded Senate passage of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Senator Hirono fought for the inclusion of critical amendments that would support United States...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) discussed the series of recent preventable accidents that have led to the contamination of the Navy’s drinking water system and put the community at risk. The hearing was scheduled to consider the nomination of Admiral Christopher...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Brian Schatz today voted to confirm Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii. The Senate voted unanimously to confirm her nomination. “Clare Connors is an excellent choice to serve as U.S. Attorney...

~ Letter follows an initial targeted request into specific allegations of whether the Navy engaged in a cover-up or intentionally delayed reporting of a fuel leak at Red Hill to secure operating permits ~ ~ Delegation sends request following a troubling series of safety hazards at Red Hill, including most recently, reports of petroleum...

HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige and Hawaii’s congressional delegation, 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 Kaiali‘i Kahele (D-Hawai‘i), released the following statement calling for the Secretary of the Navy to immediately suspend...

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 Kaiali‘i Kahele (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after meeting with Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro to discuss fuel operations in Hawai‘i. “Today, we met with...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) wrote to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) urging them to immediately advance the nomination of Professor Saule Omarova to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) joined U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Assistant Speaker of the House Katherine Clark (D-MA-5), Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-8), and Marilyn...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement following the President signing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, an historic bill that will provide the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure in nearly a century, into law: “Our crumbling infrastructure is impacting the lives of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, issued the following statement in recognition of Veterans Day: “Veterans, servicemembers, and their families have dedicated their lives to defending our freedoms, and today, we come together to honor their...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono and Brian Schatz and Representatives Ed Case and Kai Kahele today called for the Department of Defense Inspector General to start an independent investigation into Navy oversight and operation at Red Hill related to the pipeline leak. In a letter to Department of Defense Acting Inspector General...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-HI) and Kaiali‘i Kahele (D-HI) today called on the Navy to provide more information on the March 2020 fuel leak near Hotel Pier at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. In a letter to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, the delegation also...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono and Brian Schatz and Representatives Ed Case and Kai Kahele announced $6,007,090 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grants program to the Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council (SHAC)...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that Hawaii will receive $5,298,701 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Regional Conservation Partnership Program’s (RCPP) Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFA) to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to conduct landscape-level...

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced S. 2761, the Every Veteran Counts Act, legislation that directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and regularly update a database of veterans’ demographic data. The statutory changes...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland to ask for progress on reducing hate crimes and incidents, and the implementation of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, legislation that was introduced by Senator Hirono and Congresswoman Meng. The letter was...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that the U.S. Department of Education is awarding more than $28 million in 35 grants through the Native Hawaiian Education Program (NHEP). Grants are being awarded to various Native Hawaiian educational organizations, Native Hawaiian community-based organizations, and...

HONOLULU – Last week, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) introduced the bipartisan Korean War Divided Families Reunification Act, legislation directing the U.S. Secretary of State to establish a formal process to help Korean American families reunite with family members that remain in North...

HONOLULU — Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced that the Hawaii Island food bank, The Food Basket, Inc., will receive $5 million in Nutrition Incentive Grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue to build capacity in the DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks program. “The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance...

HONOLULU –  Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement on the evolving conditions in Afghanistan: “A humanitarian crisis is unfolding before our eyes in Afghanistan. We are all witnessing the chaos at the Kabul airport. We must prioritize the evacuation...