WASHINGTON, May 22 -- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, issued the following news release: FTP for TV stations is available here. Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) held a press conference in advance of the Senate voting on the bipartisan Border Act and urged their colleagues to join them in passing this legislation to crack down on drug trafficking at the southern b  more

WASHINGTON, May 20 -- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, issued the following news release: Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I), and 40 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Senate Appropriators pushing them to provide robust investment in the Pell Grant program for FY 2025, including a discretionary increase to the award. "We remain concerned that the value of the Pell Grant has steadily decli  more

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai'i) and U.S. Representatives Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai'i) and Ed Case (D-Hawai'i) today introduced new bicameral legislation that would help strengthen and protect health care for seniors in Hawai'i. The Protecting Access To Care in Hawai'i (PATCH) Act would provide fair Medicare reimbursements to Hawai'i providers, helping retain and recruit more doctor  more

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) announced that the U.S. Forest Service is awarding more than $5.6 million to help plan for and prevent wildfires in Hawaii. The funding, made available through the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) Program, will be allocated to nine projects across the state to help at-risk communities plan for and reduce the risk of wildfires. This announcement follows a letter Senator   more

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined 13 of her Senate colleagues in introducing new legislation to bring transparency to decisions on the Supreme Court's emergency docket, also called the "shadow docket." The Shadow Docket Sunlight Act, led by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), requires a written explanation and   more

WASHINGTON, May 20 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined seven of her colleagues in calling on Congress to provide robust funding for energy efficiency and climate resilience investments across the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act. Climate resilient investments, such as   more

WASHINGTON, May 20 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led 41 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS), as well as Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, encouraging them to provide robust investment i  more

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on May 21, 2024: Today, the U.S. House passed the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023, cosponsored by Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02). The measure would make it easier for Maui Fire victims to deduct disaster-related losses by eliminating the minimum 10 percent loss threshold and the requirement to itemize deductions to receive this tax benefit. It would also exempt qualified wildfire disaster relief payments recei  more

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and a vocal proponent of boosting investment in the Northeast Corridor, along with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), led two key initiatives to tackle the nation's rail state-of-good-repair (SOGR) backlog and increase funding for important transportation infrastructure and safety programs in the fiscal year  more

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on May 23, 2024: U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) reported that the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, approved today by the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, includes over $1.55 billion in military construction projects for Hawai'i, the most of any state. "This major funding for critical Hawai'i projects underscores all over again the key r  more

WASHINGTON, May 18 -- Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Today, Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02) announced Hawaii's Second Congressional Winner of the U.S. House of Representatives Artistic Discovery Contest in a ceremony held at Windward Community College. Out of 58 entries representing four islands, an acrylic painting titled "A Lion's Dance" was selected as the winner. It was created by Lia Kagehiro, a junior at Maui High School. It was her first time entering this compe  more

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on May 22, 2024: Today, U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda (HI-02), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted to send H.R. 8070, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, to the full House of Representatives. If enacted into law, this NDAA would mark the 65th consecutive year in which Congress has passed this critical law for nation  more

WASHINGTON, May 22 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced legislation that would expand transportation access for veterans with disabilities. S.4372, the Deliver for Veterans Act, would expand a Veterans Affairs (VA) grant program to cover shipping costs for disabled veterans who require modified vehicles for transportation. "Disabled veterans deserve access to every benefit they   more

WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, issued the following news release on May 23, 2024: Yesterday, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), vice chairman of the Committee, led an oversight hearing titled, "Examining Public Safety & Justice Resources in Native Communities." "One of our fundamental trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nati  more

WASHINGTON, May 20 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) released the following statement on the third anniversary of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act being signed into law by President Biden. The legislation, introduced by Senator Hirono and Representative Grace Meng (D-NY), addresses the rise in hate-based violence against the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. "As anti-Asian hate cr  more

WASHINGTON, May 22 -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) announced the reintroduction of the Enhancing Oversight to End Discrimination in Policing Act of 2024, to strengthen the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) and state governments' ability to hold police and other officials accountable for discriminatory practices. The Senate co-sponsors of this bill include: Senators  more

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Bill would address current lack of federal protection for public sector workers to join a union or collectively bargain Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) cosponsored the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, bipartisan and bicameral legislation introduced by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representatives Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.-08) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.-01). The bill would guarantee the right of publi  more