In the News

Congressional earmarks are back, and for Hawaii that means hundreds of millions of dollars in new federal spending. In March, President Joe Biden signed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that will fund the government through September. Buried in the line items are billions of dollars members of Congress set aside for special projects in their states and districts. Hawaii’s federal delegation was able to secure more than $265 million for dozens of projects in the islands. There’s...

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Tuesday unexpectedly pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland on clemency for Leonard Peltier, the Native American rights activist who has been in prison for 46 years without any evidence that he committed a crime. “What is your position on clemency for Leonard Peltier?” Schatz asked Garland, who was testifying before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about President Joe Biden’s 2023 budget request for the Justice...

The U.S. Department of Justice has withdrawn its lawsuit filed in federal and state courts in February contesting the state’s emergency order instructing the Navy to drain its Red Hill fuel tanks. The order issued by the state Department of Health followed a fuel spill that contaminated the Navy’s drinking water system and sickened residents in neighborhoods around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. “By dismissing its appeals, it is acknowledging that the Department of Health can...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, met with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Wednesday to discuss Brown’s record and judicial philosophy. Without revealing details of their conversation, Schatz declared Jackson “exceptionally qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.” “Throughout her years of public service, she has demonstrated a dedication to the Constitution, including a strong commitment to equal justice under the law,” Schatz said....

U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, joined colleagues in both chambers in calling on President Joe Biden to extend the pandemic-based pause on federally held student loan payments until the end of the year and to consider outright student debt cancellation. In all, 21 senators and 76 representatives signed off on a letter the Biden administration asking for the extension beyond the current May 1, 2022, expiration date.  “Given the fast-approaching deadline...

The Honolulu Community Action Program will be getting federal funds to support its early education programs. U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced Friday the nonprofit is receiving more than $7 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funds will support HCAP’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs — which support the development, health, and family well-being of low-income children from their infant years to 5-years-old. According to HCAP, these...

Hawaii native Nani Coloretti is now the highest ranking Filipino American in the Biden Administration. She graduated from ‘Iolani School in 1987. “This is a proud moment for Hawaii,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. “Nani will bring strong leadership experience and the ability to inspire the next generation of Filipino American leaders in Hawaii and across the country,” Schatz continued. “I am proud to call Nani a friend, and I look...

President Joe Biden is including a major request in the annual defense budget to help drain the fuel farm at Red Hill. Hawaii US Sen. Brian Schatz announced this morning $1-Billion to help drain the Red Hill fuel tanks has been included in the President’s annual budget proposal. According to a news release from the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the money would enable the department to “quickly and flexibly address the health, environmental, and national...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced Wednesday that a Molokai energy cooperative will receive federal support from the Department of Energy. Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative Molokai is a community owned and managed energy cooperative that focuses on utilizing renewable energy sources. Its profits are shared with subscribers, and it has a goal to hire only local Molokai residents for installation, maintenance and management.  “This kind of hands-on federal support will help us expand...

A congressional funding bill signed into law on Friday will provide $23 million to help protect Honoapiilani Highway against coastal erosion and climate change, Hawaii U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced Monday. The $23 million in congressionally directed spending, also known as an earmark, is included in this year’s appropriations bill for highway improvements on Maui and will be used to realign 4.5 miles of the highway from Ukumehame to Launiupoko. “This $23 million earmark will...

Hawaii community health centers are set to receive more than $23 million in federal funding to support care for underserved communities as the Covid-19 pandemic endures. The pandemic highlighted disparities faced by geographically isolated, medically vulnerable and economically disadvantaged populations when seeking health care, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said in a press release announcing the funding on Tuesday. Community health centers have helped fill critical gaps in Covid testing,...

Federal lawmakers have committed to a record funding appropriation for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. U.S. senators gave final approval Friday to a bill that would allocate $22.3 million to DHHL, sending the measure to President Joe Biden for his anticipated signature. The impending contribution, announced by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, would be the most money delivered at once to DHHL by the federal government ever, and compares with a $2 million appropriation in 2021. The...

Money has been secured for a new community center and affordable senior housing at the Lima Ola Community, an affordable-housing development in ‘Ele‘ele that will house more than 500 families. U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced the $8.5 million in congressionally directed spending, also known as an earmark, in this year’s appropriations bill. “On behalf of the people of Kaua‘i, we extend a heartfelt mahalo to Sen. Schatz and our congressional team for securing this...

The Justice Department is directing prosecutors to stop limiting defendants' ability to seek compassionate release in most federal plea agreements, after advocates criticized the practice as cruel and against the intent of Congress.DOJ officials handed down the order a month after an NPR story detailed the practice, which curtailed peoples' ability to petition for release from prison because of severe illness or other extraordinary circumstances. That story drew the attention of Attorney...

Hawaii will receive $263 million in congressionally directed spending this year, including more than $240 million in earmarks, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced on Wednesday. “Earmarks are back and that means more federal money for agencies and worthy nonprofits that serve local communities,” said Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We did very well this year and are bringing home millions in new federal funding — and all of that will go...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz on Wednesday announced that an additional $150 million in federal funding has been allocated to defuel and permanently shut down the Red Hill facility. The money is in addition to the $100 million from last month, which was included in a larger government spending bill. Schatz worked with top leaders in the Biden administration and Senate Appropriations Committee for the funding. “We still have more work to do to make sure Red Hill is closed safely, but we now...

Hawaiʻi's congressional delegation and local leaders praised the Defense Department's decision Monday to permanently shut down the Navy Red Hill fuel tank facility that leaked petroleum into Pearl Harbor's tap water. Some officials and activists voiced cautious optimism, warning there is a lot of work ahead. The facility, built into the side of a mountain during World War II to protect the fuel tanks from enemy attack, leaked into a drinking water well and contaminated water at...

The Defense Department will permanently shut down the Navy’s massive fuel tank facility in Hawaii that leaked petroleum into Pearl Harbor’s tap water, and will remove all the fuel, the Pentagon said Monday. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the decision by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is based on a new Pentagon assessment, but also is in line with an order from Hawaii’s Department of Health to drain fuel from the tanks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage...

Across America, justice is not being served because of long-standing laws and rulings that weakened tribal courts. If a Native woman in Indian Country is sexually assaulted by a non-Indian perpetrator, tribal courts are unable to prosecute the crime. The lack of jurisdiction has effectively allowed non-Native offenders to act with immunity, leaving Native women especially vulnerable to violence. “The [United States] government that colonized them has told these local governments...

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a short-term funding bill that includes a provision that pushes the Department of Defense to abide by a state emergency order to drain the tanks at the Navy’s underground Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and provides $100 mil­lion in funding for the process. The Navy has resisted the order, issued in December by the state Department of Health, after fuel from the facility tainted the serv­ice’s water system that serves 93,000 people in...