Press Releases

HONOLULU — Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that the state of Hawai‘i will receive $4,001,647 in new federal funding to help respond to the growing crisis of methamphetamine misuse, as well as opioid misuse. This is the first year that this grant has allowed the flexibility to address stimulants, including meth; previously, this grant could only be used to respond to the opioid epidemic. This new funding and increased flexibility comes after Senator...

HONOLULU – The Federal Emergency Management Agency today announced it has approved a $193,933,095 grant to Hawai‘i to provide those unemployed due to COVID-19 with an additional $300 per week on top of their regular unemployment benefit. “While this new funding will provide some immediate help, it’s not enough for Hawai‘i families who are struggling to make ends meet,” said U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) this week called for Defense Secretary Mark Esper to provide updates on how the Defense Department (DoD) is preventing and combating child sexual exploitation. Their call comes eight months after Schatz’s legislation to fight online child exploitation on the DoD’s network was signed into law as Section 550D of the...

  HONOLULU – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that Hawai‘i County will receive $30.6 million in new federal disaster relief funding. The $23.7 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding will help the county to safely rebuild impacted communities, especially in low- and moderate-income areas, and provide resources to small businesses to help them recover and thrive. This new funding comes after U.S. Senator...

HONOLULU — U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children received $10,771,601 in new federal COVID-19 relief funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kapiolani Medical Center is the only children’s hospital in Hawai‘i, providing care to children and women regardless of their families’ insurance status or ability to pay. “Hawai‘i’s hospitals are experiencing...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of 15 senators in urging Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Ajit Pai to increase funding for and improve the operations of the Rural Health Care (RHC) program, which helps expand access to telehealth services in hard-to-reach and economically depressed communities. Demand for telehealth services as an alternative to in-person care has dramatically increased due to the pandemic — resulting in increased...

HONOLULU — Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that Hawai‘i will receive $9,596,669 in new federal funding to purchase new buses for Kauai, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island. “Our communities depend on public transportation to get to work, buy groceries, and support local businesses,” said Senator Schatz, member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This grant will help make transit services on the neighbor islands more accessible,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today led a group of 48 bipartisan senators in calling for the extension of the statutory deadlines for the delivery of apportionment data and redistricting files following the 2020 Census. The senators urged House and Senate leaders to include the extension in the upcoming COVID-19 relief package. “Extending the deadlines for the delivery of these files in the next COVID-19 relief package will...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today took to the Senate floor to call for federal relief funding to support state and county governments during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his remarks on the Senate floor, Schatz slammed a Republican proposal that would offer no funding for states and localities. “If Republicans had their way, they would pass a COVID-19 aid package that forces us to lay people off – public health workers, sanitation workers, teachers – in the middle of a...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today led a group of 11 senators in introducing legislation to a create a new $2 billion fund for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that would automatically provide capital during a natural disaster or economic crisis, giving impacted communities the support they need for a faster and fuller recovery. “This pandemic has shown us that when a crisis or a disaster strikes, families and communities need immediate...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today introduced new legislation that will increase the adoption of face coverings by providing free cloth masks to any individual who requests one. Schatz’s bill will also authorize a public service announcement campaign and additional research into mask efficacy to reduce the spread of COVID-19. “The research is clear: masks...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of six senators in introducing the Federal Labor-Management COVID Partnership Act, a bill that would keep federal workers safe during public health emergencies, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, by creating formal labor-management task forces at both the Executive Branch and agency level. These task forces would be responsible for reviewing current telework, leave, cleaning, and training policies, supplying policy...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) today demanded answers on two recently announced political appointees to the Census Bureau. The appointments of Nathaniel Cogley and Adam Korzeniewski, who have no census experience, were unexpectedly announced late last month to newly created and undefined roles at the Census Bureau. “At a time when the 2020 Census operations have been delayed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and 47 colleagues introduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bipartisan bill to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act. Named after one of America’s greatest civil rights heroes, the bill would ensure that every American can exercise their right to vote by prohibiting common voter suppression tactics such as voter purges, strict ID requirements, and poll closures. “Congressman John Lewis was a courageous...

WASHINGTON – The Hawai‘i congressional delegation today urged President Trump to immediately provide support to the state as Hurricane Douglas approaches the islands. “With the time remaining before the forecasted landfall, we can take steps that will improve outcomes for Hawai‘i residents. Close coordination among federal, state, and county officials will make it possible to have supplies, personnel, and plans in place for Hurricane Douglas. Federal support is especially...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement on President Trump’s memo to ban undocumented immigrants from being counted in the Census. “This is an illegal and unconstitutional attempt to scare people from participating in the Census and influence congressional representation. The Supreme Court has already ruled against the Trump Administration's efforts to politicize the 2020 Census, and yet, they refuse to stop. We must remain...

WASHINGTON – Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate is set to vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) introduced by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that will limit the transfer of certain surplus military-grade equipment to local law enforcement agencies across the country. The Schatz-Murkowski-Harris-Paul amendment places limitations on the Department of Defense’s 1033 program...

HONOLULU — Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that the Hawai‘i Department of Health will receive $3,340,633 to help prepare for and respond to infectious disease outbreaks, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. This federal funding will support epidemiological activities including laboratory testing, contact tracing, surveillance, and coordination among public health officials. “Improving our ability to detect and...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), lead author of the CONNECT for Health Act, released the following statement on new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services showing expanded and widespread use of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Telehealth is popular and bipartisan because it reduces the cost of health care and improves quality and availability. The skyrocketing use of telehealth during the pandemic shows that we cannot and...

HONOLULU – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that the University of Hawai‘i's Pacific Island Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) will receive $4,260,603 in federal funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to deploy more ocean sensors to observe and monitor sea levels, tides, currents, waves, and temperatures. The data collected will improve forecasts of severe weather events—like king tides and hurricanes—so that...