Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Tom Cole (R-La.) – chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing, respectively – secured more than $1.34 billion in funding for Native housing programs as part of a six-bill Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations package that was passed by Congress and signed into law last week. The funding is a record increase of $324 million dollars from last year. “This historic increase in funding will help provide...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, today released the following statement after Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge announced her resignation. “Amid a national housing and homelessness crisis, Secretary Fudge has done an incredible job working in unprecedented times though the pandemic to prevent massive evictions, make housing more affordable,...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the first half of a bipartisan government funding bill which includes $394 million in new congressionally directed spending, also known as earmarks, secured by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Additional earmark funding for Hawai‘i is expected to be included the second half of the funding deal which is set to be announced on March 22. “We are bringing...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed the first half of a bipartisan appropriations deal that will deliver billions in federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai‘i. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, successfully secured funding for Hawai‘i’s priorities in the final deal. The package now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law. “Hawai‘i is to set to receive billions in new federal funding. The new funding...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) this week introduced the Transformational AI to Modernize the Economy (TAME) against Extreme Weather Act, legislation aimed at promoting the adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence to better predict and respond to extreme weather. Each year, extreme weather threatens human life and economic prosperity. Between 2013 and 2022, the federal government...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. “Tonight, we heard President Biden highlight the historic progress we made in just three years. We grew jobs at a record pace, cut the cost of prescription drugs, enacted the biggest climate action in history, improved health care for veterans, and delivered billions in new funding for Hawai‘i, among other things. “But just as the president said:...

Washington, D.C. – With their invited guests to President Biden’s State of the Union Address, Senate Democrats hosted a press conference to continue to call attention to the dangers of abortion bans. Senate Democrats’ State of the Union guests include women who were forced to travel out of state to receive lifesaving abortion care due to abortion bans, abortion clinic directors, providers, and moms who relied on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to start their families. Senate Democrats are...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after the Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH) completed residual fuel removal at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Overall, JTF-RH safely defueled 104,703,574 gallons total from the facility, six months ahead of schedule. “With more than 100 million gallons of fuel removed, the draining of Red Hill is nearly complete. While we still have more work to do to make sure the area is fully cleaned up and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured the inclusion of a $100 million grant program based on his bipartisan ‘Yes In My Backyard’ legislation in the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill, a $15 million increase in funding from last year. In its second year, this first-of-its-kind federal program rewards 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...

Washington, D.C. – With their invited guests to President Biden’s State of the Union Address, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Senate Democrats are continuing to call attention to the dangers of abortion bans passed in states across the country. Senate Democrats’ State of the Union guests include women who were forced to travel out of state to receive lifesaving abortion care due to abortion bans, abortion clinic directors, providers, and moms who relied on in-vitro fertilization (IVF)...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, secured $394 million in new congressional directed spending, also known as earmarks, in the first half of this year’s government funding bill. Additional earmark funding for Hawai‘i is expected to be included the second half of the funding deal which is set to be announced on March 22. “We are bringing home nearly $400 million in new earmark...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that provisions from his bipartisan Care for COFA Veterans Act were included in the appropriations package released Sunday, along with language that would extend the United States’ agreements with the Freely Associated States (FAS) of the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The provisions from the Care for COFA Veterans...

WASHINGTON – Congressional leaders yesterday released the first half of a bipartisan appropriations deal that will deliver billions in federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai‘i. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, successfully secured funding for Hawai‘i’s priorities in the final deal. “Hawai‘i is to set to receive billions in new federal funding. The new funding will improve our roads and infrastructure, provide people...

WASHINGTON – In the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court decision that effectively banned in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the state, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today spoke out on the Senate floor and called for protecting IVF access and restoring reproductive rights across the country. “Gutting Roe was never going to be enough. It was a gateway to an all-out war. And right now, millions of women in America are paying the price. They're terrified of what they can and cannot do and what...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today released the following statement after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed new rules to implement the Safe Connections Act for internet-connected cars. Schatz was the lead author of the Safe Connections Act, a new law that will help survivors of domestic violence and other crimes cut ties with their abusers and separate from...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement after Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green today led a dedication ceremony on Maui for the opening of Hawai‘i’s first federally-funded electric vehicle (EV) charging station. To date, Hawai‘i has received more than $10 million in federal funding to build EV charging stations through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program from the federal infrastructure law passed in 2021. “Every charging...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on reporting of the Chinese government’s involvement with community policing in the Republic of Kiribati. “Reports of China’s growing influence across Pacific Island nations, including Kiribati, underscore the need for the United States to continue strengthening our partnerships in the region. To build enduring trust with the people of the Pacific Islands, we...

Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) as well as Senators Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) sent a letter to President Biden expressing concern around any additional transfer of U.S. weapons, including bombs, to the Netanyahu government in light of the current humanitarian disaster in Gaza and the developing crisis in Rafah. The Senators go on to press the President for specific commitments from the Netanyahu government prior to any...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg today toured multiple infrastructure projects on O‘ahu which have received federal funding, including through the historic infrastructure law Congress passed in 2021. Schatz, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and Buttigieg visited the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Control Room and rode the Skyline with Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and other city...

LAHAINA  – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited Maui today and received an update from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Environmental Protection Agency on the ongoing recovery effort from the wildfires in Lahaina. Schatz and Buttigieg also received an update on the Honoapi‘ilani Highway realignment project and discussed how historic federal investments are helping make infrastructure on...