HONOLULU, Hawaii, Aug. 25 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Aug. 24, 2023: Ahead of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra's visit to Maui tomorrow, 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 Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai'i) today called on the Secretary to take additional federal actions to support mental health, child care, and language services for survivors.   more

HONOLULU, Hawaii, Aug. 25 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on Aug. 23, 2023: U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will award $1.3 million to the State of Hawaii to support people who were already experiencing homelessness--those living in an emergency shelter, transitional housing, or a place not meant for human habitation--or at risk of homelessness through the Rapid Unsheltered Surviv  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, issued the following news release and letter: Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, wrote to Administrator Isabella Guzman of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to request a staff briefing and other pertinent documents on the SBA's disaster response efforts in the aftermath of the Maui fires. Read excerpts from the letter below: "The House C  more

HONOLULU, Hawaii, Aug. 24 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following statement on Aug. 22, 2023: * * * U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration approved a Quick Release request for $3 million in Emergency Relief for Federal-Aid Highways (ERFA) funding to the Hawai'i Department of Transportation for repairs following the Maui fires. "Restoring our roads and highways is a critica  more

HONOLULU, Hawaii, Aug. 25 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following statement on Aug. 23, 2023: * * * U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it has allocated $1.3 million in Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) funding to assist people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness after the Maui fires. The disaster response and recovery funding will provide emergenc  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee issued the following testimony by Hawaii Board of Agriculture Chairperson Sharon Hurd involving a hearing on Aug. 18, 2023, entitled "Promoting a Resilient Economy for Hawaii Farm Businesses": * * * The main challenges Hawaii small farmers face in seeking federal grants are 1) applying and administering the grants - overcoming barriers of compliance, language, fiscal processes and reporting; 2) theoretical concepts  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee issued the following testimony by Hawaii Farm Bureau President Randy Cabral involving a hearing on Aug. 18, 2023, entitled "Promoting a Resilient Economy for Hawaii Farm Businesses": * * * My name is Randy Cabral and I'm the President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau (HFB). Organized in 1948, the Hawaii Farm Bureau is comprised of 1,800 farm family members statewide, and we serve as Hawaii's voice of agriculture to protec  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee issued the following testimony by Joseph Burns, interim state director of the Hawaii Small Business Development Center, involving a hearing on Aug. 18, 2023, entitled "Promoting a Resilient Economy for Hawaii Farm Businesses": * * * Thank you, Senator Hirono and the members of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for your invitation to submit testimony on this crucial topic. With respect to   more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 -- The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee issued the following testimony by Small Business Administration Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed involving a hearing on August 18, 2023, entitled "Promoting a Resilient Economy for Hawaii Farm Businesses": * * * Thank you, Senator Hirono, for holding this hearing. Before we begin today, I'd like to acknowledge the wildfires that impacted Maui earlier this month. SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman was on the ground la  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -- The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee issued the following testimony by Anna Wieczorek, interim dean in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources of the University of Hawaii Manoa campus, involving a hearing on Aug. 18, 2023, entitled "Promoting a Resilient Economy for Hawaii Farm Businesses": * * * Chairman Cardin, Senator Hirono, and members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of ways to impr  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 -- The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee issued the following testimony by Chris Kanazawa, director for Hawaii Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, involving a hearing on August 18, 2023, entitled "Promoting a Resilient Economy for Hawaii Farm Businesses": * * * Thank you Senator Hirono for the opportunity to speak before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship to share the role the United States Department of Agric  more