Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Native American Language Resource Center Act. The bipartisan legislation, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will bolster Native American language schools and programs with coordinated, experienced support. The bill now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law. “As we have seen in Hawai‘i, Native speaker-led language...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured the inclusion of provisions to the FY23 government funding bill that will temporarily extend access to expanded telehealth services. The provisions, which are from the Schatz-authored Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, allow Medicare beneficiaries in all areas of the country to utilize telehealth services in their homes and allow more types of health care...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the annual government funding bill which will increase federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai‘i. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), worked with his colleagues on the committee to successfully secure new and increased federal funding for Hawai‘i’s priorities. “We continue to see big increases in federal funding for Hawai‘i. This appropriations bill will give our state...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, secured $530 million in new congressional directed spending, also known as earmarks, in this year’s government funding bill. At $530 million, Schatz’s earmark total this year more than doubles last fiscal year’s amount. “We are bringing home more than a half a billion dollars in new earmark funding,” said Senator Schatz. “These earmarks will give local...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that he has secured $63.8 million in new funding for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Schatz worked with congressional leaders to steer nearly $64 million to the rail project in Honolulu. The new money, which will be used to cover inflationary cost increases, is in addition to the remaining federal funding that...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today secured the inclusion of a new $85 million grant program based on his bipartisan ‘Yes In My Backyard’ legislation in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill. The bill establishes a new federal program to reward 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 exclusionary zoning...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the annual appropriations bill includes $1 billion to defuel and permanently close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. “This is new federal funding to drain and permanently shut down Red Hill. We still have more work to do to make sure Red Hill is closed as quickly and safely as possible, and now we have even more resources to help in that effort,” said Senator Schatz, a senior member of the...

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 Kai Kahele (D-Hawai‘i) today called for a congressionally-initiated independent investigation into how the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy have responded to PFAS-based contamination events at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, including the recent leak of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF). The delegation...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) will receive $17.3 million in new federal funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce to expand high-speed internet access in Native Hawaiian communities. “This funding will increase broadband internet access in Native Hawaiian communities across the state, helping families and small businesses get the high-speed internet they need and supporting the expansion of important...

WASHINGTON – Last night, the U.S. Senate passed the Restoring Resilient Reefs Act, bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that will help protect coral reefs and advance coral reef stewardship. The legislation was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law. “Our coral reefs have been pushed to the brink of extinction, and we need to...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included several provisions authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i). Schatz’s provisions included measures to protect coral reefs, improve the nation’s volcanic warning system, and stop the cruel practice of killing sharks for their fins. The NDAA bill now heads to president’s desk to be signed into law. The NDAA bill includes the bipartisan Restoring...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today called on the Department of Defense to step up its efforts to assist people experiencing health issues as a result of water contamination from the Red Hill fuel leak. “Protecting the health and safety of service members and their families is the sacred obligation of the Department of Defense, and the water contamination of the community water system at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam was a breach of trust. DoD must use all...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today led a bipartisan group of senators in urging Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to work with American and global leaders to prevent deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and help fight climate change. Citing Lula’s public commitments to protect the Amazon, the senators expressed their interest in working with him and the National Congress of Brazil to restore protections against illegal...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Mark Takano (D-Calif.) introduced the Right to Private Conduct Act, a bill to protect the rights to privacy and liberty granted by the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas. The legislation would prevent any person acting under color of law from inhibiting an individual’s right to engage in private, non-commercial, consensual sexual conduct between...

WASHINGTON – The Senate Democratic Caucus today voted to elevate U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) to Deputy Conference Secretary, a new position within the Senate Democratic leadership team. Schatz was nominated for the new role by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). In addition to the new leadership position, Schatz will retain his role as Chief Deputy Whip. “I’m honored to serve in this new leadership role,” said Senator Schatz. “We have more...

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden signed the Safe Connections Act into law. The new law, authored by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), will help survivors of domestic violence and other crimes cut ties with their abusers and separate from shared wireless service plans, which can be exploited to monitor, stalk, or control victims. “Giving domestic violence abusers control over their victims’ cell phones is a terrifying reality for many...

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act into law. The new law, authored by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), will expand research into marijuana-derived medications. The goal of the law is to facilitate research on marijuana and its potential health benefits. The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act will accomplish this by...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that Hawai‘i will receive $5.6 million in new federal funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce to expand high-speed internet access in unserved and underserved communities. “Everyone in Hawai‘i should have access to high-speed internet,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This funding will allow us to expand broadband infrastructure across the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, renewed efforts to urge President Joe Biden to commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of murder in 1977 following a controversial investigation and trial, which many civil rights leaders and legal experts have called unjust, including the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case. The new letter follows Schatz’s call for clemency in January....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today secured the inclusion of several provisions to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including measures to protect coral reefs, improve the nation’s volcanic warning system, and stop the cruel practice of killing sharks for their fins. The final NDAA bill includes the bipartisan Restoring Resilient Reefs Act which was authored by Schatz and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). The landmark bill increases...