WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 -- Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Dec. 23, 2022: U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), completing his fourth year as a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, announced today that the final $1.7 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 omnibus federal funding package approved by Congress and expected to be signed by the President includes billions in assistance for Hawai'i, of which $94,382,465 is directed to his fourteen Community Project Funding   more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Dec. 22, 2022: U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) announced today that the U.S. House of Representatives has given final Congressional approval to a bill he and U.S. Congressman Kai Kahele (HI-02) introduced to advance the possible designation of Ka'ena Point on O'ahu's westernmost tip as Hawaii's first Natural Heritage Area (NHA). The Senate, where a companion measure was introduced by Senator Mazie Hirono, appr  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: President Joe Biden signed into law three bills introduced by U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to protect coral reefs, connect families separated by the Korean War, and create a new Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) Advisory Committee. Senator Hirono's Coral Reef Sustainability Through Innovation Act and Korean War Divided Families Reunification Act were both signed into law as part of the fiscal yea  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release and letter Dec. 21, 2022: U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) led 6 of her Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Kaiser Permanente CEO Greg Adams urging Kaiser to come to a good faith agreement with mental and behavioral health workers in the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) in Hawaii who have been on strike for 16 weeks. In the letter, the lawmakers urge the company to come to a good faith agree  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) voted to pass the Fiscal Year 2023 government spending bill, which includes nearly $450 million in earmarks, known as Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS), she secured for nonprofit organizations and government agencies in Hawaii. Senator Hirono secured CDS funding for projects in every county in Hawaii, including military construction projects, community health organiza  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release and letter: U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-HI) and Kai Kahele (D-HI) in calling for a congressionally-initiated independent investigation into how the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy have responded to PFAS-based contamination events at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel   more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: President Biden signed into law the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizing $1 billion for the defueling and closure of Red Hill secured by U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In addition to the $1 billion for Red Hill, Senator Hirono also secured nearly $800 million for other military infrastructure upgrades in Hawaii   more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Heritage Area Act, which includes the Kaena Point National Heritage Area Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to study designating Kaena Point on Oahu as a National Heritage Area, by a vote of 326-95. The legislation would require the Department of the Interior (DOI) to study the feasibility of designating Kaena Point, on O  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Native American Language Resource Center Act. The bipartisan legislation, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will bolster Native American language schools and programs with coordinated, experienced support. The bill now heads to the president's desk to be signed into law. "As we have seen in Hawai  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Dec. 20, 2022: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) today secured the inclusion of a new $85 million grant program based on his bipartisan 'Yes In My Backyard' legislation in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill. The bill establishes a new federal program to reward state and local governments that reform land-use policies and other local barriers that constrain the supply of affordable housing. "We nee  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, secured $530 million in new congressional directed spending, also known as earmarks, in this year's government funding bill. At $530 million, Schatz's earmark total this year more than doubles last fiscal year's amount. "We are bringing home more than a half a billion dollars in new  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Dec. 19, 2022: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) today announced that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) will receive $17.3 million in new federal funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce to expand high-speed internet access in Native Hawaiian communities. "This funding will increase broadband internet access in Native Hawaiian communities across the state, helping families and small busi  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release and letter on Dec. 19, 2022: U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-Hawaii) and Kai Kahele (D-Hawaii) today called for a congressionally-initiated independent investigation into how the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy have responded to PFAS-based contamination events at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, including the   more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) secured the inclusion of provisions to the FY23 government funding bill that will temporarily extend access to expanded telehealth services. The provisions, which are from the Schatz-authored Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, allow Medicare beneficiaries in all areas of the country to utilize telehealth servi  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Nov. 20, 2022: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) today announced that he has secured $63.8 million in new funding for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Schatz worked with congressional leaders to steer nearly $64 million to the rail project in Honolulu. The new money, which will be used to cover infla  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, issued the following news release: 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, released the following statements on Senate passage of - * H.R. 441, the Don Young Alaska Native Health Care Land Transfers Act of 2022; * H.R. 478, the Blackwater Trading Post Land Transfer Act  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Dec. 20, 2022: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) today announced that the annual appropriations bill includes $1 billion to defuel and permanently close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. "This is new federal funding to drain and permanently shut down Red Hill. We still have more work to do to make sure Red Hill is closed as quickly and safely as possible, and now we have even more resources to he  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped secure Indian Affairs priorities and increased funding for Native communities in a bipartisan appropriations deal. "Today's bipartisan deal authorizes critical Indian Affairs priorities and delivers billio  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senators, Tester, Cortez Masto, Smith, and Lujan, members of the Committee, released the following statements on inclusion of advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service (IHS) in the Senate's appropri  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: The U.S. Senate passed the annual government funding bill which will increase federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawaii. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), worked with his colleagues on the committee to successfully secure new and increased federal funding for Hawaii's priorities. "We continue to see big increases in federal fundin  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, issued the following news release: 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, released the following statements on eight bills set to become law - * S. 989, the Native American Language Resource Center Act of 2021; * S. 1402, the Durbin Feeling Native American Languages A  more

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Ore.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressing concern over reports that military families are being forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with privatized milita  more