Press Releases

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that that the five Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems and Papa Ola Lokahi, which coordinates health care programs and services for Native Hawaiians, will receive $19.5 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This funding will support Native Hawaiian health care services, disease prevention, and health education. “Native Hawaiian families across our state use these health centers to get the care they need...

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to two U.S. Army soldiers from Hawai‘i, Staff Sergeant Edward N. Kaneshiro (posthumous) and Specialist Five Dennis M. Fujii. They were selected for the Medal of Honor as the U.S. military continues to review the records of soldiers previously overlooked for awards due to bigotry. “Few service members in our nation’s history have shown the courage Staff Sergeant Kaneshiro and Specialist Five Fujii did while...

HILO – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement on the Department of Defense’s plan to defuel and shut down the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. “Defueling and shutting down Red Hill cannot be delayed. If the Department of Defense wants to mobilize to accomplish something quickly and safely, it can. DoD must make it a priority to move fast and permanently shut down Red Hill as soon as possible.” ###

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. “The Republican-controlled Supreme Court has ripped away abortion rights from millions of American women. While this ruling won’t impact Hawai‘i, which legalized abortion in 1970, we must fight back to protect reproductive rights for women across the country. A woman’s fundamental right to make decisions...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced it has allocated $22.3 million in Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant funding to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), who serves as both the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing, secured the funding – the highest level ever appropriated by Congress. “We...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) submitted a comment letter on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) mandatory climate disclosure rule, highlighting several areas for improvement and key elements that the SEC should preserve in its final rule. In addition to Schatz, Whitehouse, and Warren the comment letter was signed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today voted to pass the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation authored by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) to deliver all eras of toxic-exposed veterans their earned health care and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the first time in the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D- Hawai‘i) today announced that the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources will receive $1,723,698 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect native forest birds, waterbirds, seabirds, and yellow-faced bees. The funding will support conservation projects on Hawaiʻi Island, Kauaʻi, Maui, and O‘ahu. “Our native bird and bee populations are in danger due to shrinking habitats, disease-carrying...

HILO – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a field hearing titled “Upholding The Federal Trust Responsibility: Funding & Program Access For Innovation In The Native Hawaiian Community.” Chairman Schatz opened the hearing by highlighting the unique perspectives the University of Hawai‘i and the Hilo community bring to the federal conversation about how best to support Native...

HONOLULU – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a field hearing titled “Upholding The Federal Trust Responsibility: Funding & Program Access For Innovation In The Native Hawaiian Community.” Since assuming the committee chairmanship, Schatz has delivered the biggest federal investment in American history for Native Hawaiians – more than $270 million in direct funding for housing, education, health...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-Hawai‘i) and Kai Kahele (D-Hawai‘i) today called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase its school meal reimbursement rate for Hawai‘i as the agency completes its years-long study to update its severely outdated cost estimates. “We request that you exercise your authority to provide a temporary increase in the national...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D- Hawai‘i) today announced that Hawai‘i will receive $14,092,200 in funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Geological Survey to protect threatened and endangered local forest birds from extinction. The funding will help recover species including the ʻakikiki and ‘akeke‘e on Kaua‘i and the kiwikiu and ‘ākohekohe on Maui. “Avian malaria from invasive...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) today called on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct more research into the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelics. “NIH and FDA are critical to ensuring a comprehensive, rigorous, and deliberative science-based approach to the study of psychedelics, including the potential development of medication and therapeutics derived from these...

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden today signed into law the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act, legislation authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) that will help fight cybercrime and keep people safe from online scams. The bipartisan bill, which will improve data collection on cybercrimes and give law enforcement and policy makers more tools to combat cybercrime in the United States, passed the Senate in December and the U.S. House of Representatives in March. “By...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today led a group of ten senators in introducing a resolution to support the designation of April 2022 as “Preserving and Protecting Local News Month.” The resolution recognizes local news as a public good that serves an essential function in the democracy of the United States. “People across the country rely on local news to stay informed, fight disinformation, and strengthen their communities. As the industry...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today released the following statement on the Department of Defense’s decision to withdraw its lawsuit challenging the State of Hawaiʻi’s emergency public health order on the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. “This is the right thing to do, and I worked very hard to push the DoD to make this decision. The legal challenge to the order made it difficult for the state to work cooperatively with the DoD, and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today voted to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Jackson, who was confirmed by a vote of 53-47, becomes the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.  “Judge Jackson has the legal expertise, record of fairness, and extensive experience – both professional and personal – that will make her an excellent addition to the Supreme Court....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today met with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The two met in Senator Schatz’s office on Capitol Hill to discuss her record and judicial philosophy. “I heard from Judge Jackson directly and it is clear that she is exceptionally qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. Throughout her years of public service, she has demonstrated a...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the Honolulu Community Action Program will receive $7,142,204 in federal grant funding to support its Head Start and Early Head Start programs. These programs provide comprehensive early childhood education and development services to low-income children and pregnant mothers. “No single program has taught us more about how important early childhood development programs are to a child’s education and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured $367,000 in congressionally directed spending, also known as an earmark, in this year’s appropriations bill for the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC). The funds will be used to support its Immigrant Triad Program, which provides legal and advocacy services for immigrant or limited English proficiency survivors of family violence and their children. “This new earmark funding will help expand services for...