Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) will receive $22 million in new federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to support a realignment of the Honoapiilani Highway in West Maui and protect it from sea level rise. “This new federal funding will keep Honoapiilani Highway safe and functional by responding to coastal erosion caused by climate change and help local families...

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law. The sweeping law, which U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) voted to pass in the Senate in August, includes at least $2.8 billion for Hawai‘i to repair roads and bridges and make them more resilient to climate change, improve public transportation options for residents, and strengthen high-speed internet access in Native Hawaiian communities and across...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced the Student Veterans Transparency and Protection Act. The bipartisan legislation would improve veterans’ access to information about higher education and allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to restore benefits that veterans...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to take concrete steps to reform the credit reporting industry. Specifically, the senators urged Director Rohit Chopra to use the CFPB’s...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal that includes at least $2.8 billion in estimated funding for Hawai‘i. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) voted to pass in the Senate in August, includes funding to repair roads and bridges and make them more resilient to climate change, improve public transportation options for residents, and strengthen...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-Hawai‘i) and Kaiali‘i Kahele (D-Hawai‘i) 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 requested more details on the Navy’s response to discovering the leak, including its compliance with...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal to reverse the previous administration’s harmful BOP policy which increased transgender prisoners’ risk of sexual victimization. The letter...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) reintroduced the Safeguarding American Families and Expanding Social Security (SAFE Social Security) Act, legislation to expand Social Security for seniors and families in Hawai‘i and across the country. The bill would increase benefits on average by more than $115 per month, ensure the cost of living adjustments adequately reflect the living expenses of retirees, extend the life of the trust fund, remove the wage cap to...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) reintroduced legislation to expand access to education for Americans in federal prisons. The Promoting Reentry through Education in Prisons (PREP) Act would create an office within the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) focused on correctional education and fund a new program to address the lack of educational opportunities currently offered. “Research shows that one of the best ways to break the cycle of recidivism is...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), John Thune (R-S.D.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today called on President Joe Biden to provide more U.S. leadership and step up efforts to increase global vaccine access to fight the...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Andy Levin (D-Mich.) introduced new legislation to keep workers safe by requiring the publication of workplace violations. The Keeping Workers Safe Act directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to announce major violations by companies and distribute them to local media and related labor and trade organizations, a practice which has been shown to boost workplace safety. “We...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) reintroduced the State Justice Improvement Act, legislation that will make lasting changes to America’s criminal justice system. Across the country, courts often impose fines and fees without considering an individual’s ability to pay – disproportionately impacting low income communities and communities of color. This legislation provides state and local courts with new and expanded federal funding...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that the Department of the Interior has awarded $600,000 in new grant funding to support local organizations that are working to preserve and share Native Hawaiian culture and traditions with visitors. The funding was made possible by the NATIVE Act, a law authored by Senator Schatz to integrate native tourism, empower native communities, and expand unique...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) voiced their opposition to Facebook’s revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency (“Diem”) and digital wallet (“Novi”). In light of yet another scandal involving Facebook’s failure to protect its users, the...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) introduced legislation to prevent youth suicide, the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-24. The Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act would fund suicide prevention initiatives, ensure health care providers receive training to prevent intentional harm, and create a centralized hub to provide safety information to at-risk youth and their support networks. “Youth suicide is a crisis in...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) today unveiled the Fostering Overseas Rule of Law and Environmentally Sound Trade (FOREST) Act, new bipartisan legislation that creates a framework for the federal government to deter commodity-driven illegal deforestation around the world. The FOREST Act restricts access to U.S. markets for commodities originating from illegally deforested land,...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) reintroduced legislation to protect federal workers and their families from foreclosures, evictions, and loan defaults during a government shutdown. The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act would enable government employees and contractors to postpone payment obligations during a shutdown and for 30 days afterward. “Federal workers are dedicated public servants who inspect our...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that 12 health centers across Hawai‘i will receive $7,423,032 to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, expand and improve health care facilities, and provide health care to more people. “We are still fighting this pandemic, so this new funding will be a big help. It will update and expand health centers across the state and provide more people with the health care they need,”...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement on President Joe Biden’s nomination of Hawai‘i Attorney General Clare Connors to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawai‘i. The nomination follows Schatz and Hirono’s recommendation of Connors for the position.   “Clare Connors is an excellent choice to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawai‘i....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that Hawai‘i will receive $5,901,475 in new federal funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand and improve the Hawai‘i State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe. “This federal funding will help us continue to honor the thousands of brave service members from Hawai‘i who put their lives on the line to serve our country, and ensure their...