Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) introduced new legislation to help communities plan for and recover from major disasters. The Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019 would strengthen the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s disaster recovery grants for states, local governments, and tribes. It would also improve coordination at the federal level by establishing an office within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban...

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of senators in pushing back against President Trump’s executive action ordering federal agencies to turn over citizenship data from existing government records for political purposes. Schatz introduced new legislation, supported by 13 senators, to overturn Trump’s executive order.“It is sad to see the lengths this administration will go to politicize citizenship data and distort our democracy....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) toured southern border facilities in McAllen, Texas yesterday with a 13-member Senate Democratic delegation. The delegation visited Border Patrol facilities, as well as a Catholic respite center that is providing aid to asylum seekers. The senators also met with local NGOs who have been providing assistance and legal aid to families fleeing violence.“What I saw was awful. People are being held in overcrowded quarters and unable...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after President Trump announced that the citizenship question would not be included in the 2020 Census.“The good news is that we won this fight. A citizenship question will not appear on the Census, and we can now focus on getting a full, fair, and accurate count.“The bad news is that this administration still has the same poisonous political motivations that drove them to undercount...

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), both members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, reintroduced the Repeatedly Flooded Communities Preparation Act, bipartisan legislation that would provide stronger protections for flood-prone communities.The Repeatedly Flooded Communities Preparation Act provides the first step towards breaking the costly cycle of repeated flooding and rebuilding by providing communities with...

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, and Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, along with U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Edward Markey...

HONOLULU – Today U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after the Trump administration said the 2020 Census will be printed without a citizenship question.  “This is an enormous victory for the rule of law and the Constitution. We still have work to do to ensure a complete count, but this helps us to make sure that the government conducts this count in good faith and in compliance with the law.”

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of 28 senators in calling for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to meet the administration’s previously set deadline of July 1 to begin printing materials for the 2020 Census and move forward without adding a politically motivated question about citizenship.Their call comes a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s rationale for adding the question “appears to have been...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020, which includes two bills authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i).The Schatz provisions will improve the emergency alert system and give the federal government the sole responsibility of alerting the public of a missile threat, as well as protect coastal military bases from extreme weather events by requiring them to prepare for potential disasters and other risks...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today led a group of ten senators in introducing new legislation to block a proposed rule at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would strip away protections for homeless transgender people. Schatz’s bill, the Ensuring Equal Access to Shelter Act, is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.),...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to send the census citizenship question matter back to a lower court to consider new evidence that strongly suggests the question was added to deter participation from communities of color. Schatz led a bicameral group of over 30 current and former members of Congress on an amicus brief to the Supreme Court supporting the lawsuit to stop the question from being...

WASHINGTON – Today, as Americans celebrate LGBT Pride Month, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Katie Hill (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Restore Honor to Service Members Act. The legislation will correct the military records of service members discharged solely due to their sexual orientation to reflect their honorable service and reinstate the benefits they earned.“This bill is about confronting...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, released the following statement following a meeting the committee held with leaders of utility companies from across the country.“Today our committee heard from utility leaders who are at the center of the clean energy revolution. Across the country, utilities are integrating renewable energy into their grids at levels we thought were impossible just a few...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of eight senators in calling for the federal government to investigate federal contractors in charge of migrant children who the government has detained after children crossed the U.S. southern border. The letters to the Government Accountability Office and the suspension and debarment official and inspector general at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were sent after disturbing reports of hungry,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement on an agreement to include legislation to raise the federal tobacco age of sale to 21 in the Lower Health Care Costs Act. “We are making progress on Tobacco to 21. I’m pleased that Chairman Alexander worked with Ranking Member Murray and me to strip a loophole that gave Big Tobacco an opening to undermine strong anti-tobacco proposals at the state level. I look forward to continuing our...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a group of 14 senators in asking the College Board to change its approach to its annual reports to better reflect the costs of attaining higher education. The College Board is a non-profit organization that promotes higher education preparation and administers standardized tests, including the SAT.“The College Board’s annual publications, Trends in Student Aid and Trends in College Pricing, are well known to...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chair of the Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, has invited Dr. Rod Schoonover, a senior intelligence analyst at the State Department, to testify before the Senate Special Committee on the Climate Crisis. The invitation follows reports that revealed that Dr. Schoonover’s written testimony to the House Intelligence Committee was suppressed by the White House because it included climate science.“While your oral...

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Banking Committee and Chair of the Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, released the following statement after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission held its first public meeting on climate-related financial risks, where Commissioner Rostin Behnam announced he is working on creating a new Market Risk Advisory subcommittee focused exclusively on examining climate-related financial...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), members of the Senate Banking Committee, applauded Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner Rostin Behnam for leading a public meeting on climate-related financial risks. The senators also called on all financial regulatory agencies to take the threat of climate-related risks seriously and act to mitigate those risks.“Climate change impacts are likely to exacerbate market volatility, erode...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) reintroduced the Explore America Act, legislation that supports the expansion of cultural heritage tourism by strengthening the Preserve America Grant Program. Changes to the program will help attract more visitors to American landscapes and cultural heritage sites in the National Parks System, enhance existing programs, and increase collaboration between communities and the...