Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today spoke on the Senate floor about the crisis of starvation in Gaza, which has resulted in almost a third of Palestinians going for several days without eating and at least 63 people dying from malnutrition this month alone. Schatz criticized the Netanyahu government’s decision to cut off aid into Gaza and later set up an entity that failed to distribute aid safely and effectively. “The fact that this catastrophe was preventable is precisely...

WASHINGTON – The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs yesterday unanimously voted to advance a bipartisan housing package which included the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act. The provision, authored by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), would help communities recover from major disasters. “Right now, each time a disaster happens, communities in crisis are forced to wait for Congress to pass a disaster funding bill before HUD can help. Our...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement after Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a proposal to repeal the landmark 2009 Endangerment Finding, which established that greenhouse gases pose a threat to the public and provides the authority to regulate emissions from sources like power plants and vehicles. Administrator Zeldin is also rolling back limits on pollution from vehicles. “If President Trump and...

Residents Can Learn More About How The New Law Will Affect Med-QUEST, SNAP, Education, Taxes New Guide Available At Schatz.Senate.Gov/TaxLawHelp WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today launched a new guide to help Hawai‘i residents who may be impacted by the Republican tax law. The new webpage will include information and resources to help people navigate major changes to health care, food assistance, education programs, and tax policies. “The new Republican Tax Law cuts...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) joined U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and 19 of their Senate colleagues in pressing the Trump Administration for answers on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). In their letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Senators called on the Administration to immediately cease funding for GHF and restore support for existing United Nations aid distribution mechanisms. The Senators seek answers from the Administration...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) today introduced the Empowering App-Based Workers Act, new legislation to improve transparency on how app companies operate and help boost wages for rideshare drivers and delivery app workers. “Every day rideshare drivers and delivery app workers work long hours and travel many miles to make a living, often without knowing how much money they’ll make. Our bill would shed some light on how apps determine work...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke on the Senate floor today about the national housing shortage in the United States and the urgent need to cut onerous regulations that stand in the way of building more housing. Schatz introduced three bipartisan housing bills this week, including the Build More Housing Near Transit Act and the YIMBY Act. The Build More Housing Near Transit Act incentivizes local governments to build housing near federally-funded transit projects. The...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) introduced the Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act, legislation that would encourage local communities to cut burdensome regulations, encourage more housing options, and bring a new level of transparency to the community development process. Currently, many communities across the U.S. are building paper walls of regulations that negatively affect and, at times, discriminate against low- and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) today introduced the Build More Housing Near Transit Act. The bipartisan legislation continues Senator Schatz’s efforts to address America’s housing shortage by offering federal benefits and encouraging local governments to build more housing near transit-oriented urban and suburban spaces, where options are especially lacking.   “The clearest way out of our national housing shortage is by building more housing,” said...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on the release of 10 Americans and U.S. permanent residents wrongfully detained in Venezuela. Schatz led efforts urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to work with the Venezuelan government to secure their release. “We are relieved by this good news. This is the result of the relentless work by career diplomats, families, community leaders, and advocates who...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, today voted against a Republican bill that cuts $9 billion to foreign aid and public broadcasting. The Republican rescissions bill will devastate public TV and radio stations across the country, making it more difficult for people – especially those in Native communities and rural areas – to get news and critical emergency alerts. The bill will also gut...

WASHINGTON – As the U.S. Senate considers a rescissions package to codify $9 billion dollars in cuts to foreign assistance and public broadcasting, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke out against the Trump administration’s illegal dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the catastrophic consequences the elimination of aid has had on vulnerable people around the world. Schatz, who is the Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, today urged his colleagues to reject President Donald Trump’s efforts to enact a harmful $9 billion cut to foreign aid and public broadcasting. The Republican rescissions bill would devastate public TV and radio stations across the country, making it more difficult for people – especially those in Native communities and rural areas – to get news and...

WASHINGTON – Following the enactment of the Republican tax law, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke out on the Senate floor last night to underscore the harmful impacts the law will have on millions of people. The new law, passed without any bipartisan support, will soon kick more than 17 million Americans off of health insurance, raise monthly health care costs across the country, and slash nutritional assistance for those in need – all in order to cut taxes for the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the State of Hawai‘i with $5,512,623 in new federal grant funding for runway improvements at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole, the largest airport on Hawai‘i Island and the state’s second international entry point. “This new federal funding will help modernize and strengthen infrastructure at Kona International Airport, making it more reliable and safer...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act, bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper and certain species of tuna imported into the United States. The bill now...

WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Operation Appropriations, introduced the “Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act,” legislation to prevent the unnecessary destruction and waste of foreign assistance commodities—including food, medicine and medical devices—by ensuring that they are delivered to intended recipients before they spoil or...

WASHINGTON – Following a ruling from a federal court that blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule that was set to go into effect on Monday, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced the Unsubscribe Act. The bipartisan bill would require companies to be more transparent about their subscription-based business models and make it easier for consumers to cancel their subscriptions once their free or reduced-price trial period has ended. “Our...

WASHINGTON – Governor Josh Green, M.D., U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie K. Hirono, and U.S. Representatives Ed Case and Jill Tokuda today released the following statement after Congress passed a Republican tax bill that will cut healthcare coverage through Med-QUEST for more than 40,000 people in Hawai‘i, gut food assistance programs that more than 20,000 Hawai‘i families rely on, and raise the national debt by $3.3 trillion. The bill now goes to the president to be signed into law. “The...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) led a group of 18 senators in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to continue efforts to bring home Americans who are currently wrongfully detained in Venezuela. In May, the State Department announced that Venezuela is currently unjustly jailing more Americans than any other country in the world. The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.),...