These every-two-years congressional redistricting wars purely for political advantage are destructive to our democracy on several counts. I’m co-leading a bipartisan gerrymandering reform package to return to the basics of all voters picking their reps and not reps selecting their voters. More: https://t.co/s7acOJZk66
Welcomed Pastors Josh and Shannon Marocco and Dylan and Rachel Andrion of King’s Cathedral & Chapels to the Hill to discuss several issues of mutual concern. Always appreciate talking story with our many and varied communities of faith and working together for those we serve.
Hawai’i in the House. I welcomed 28-year Marine veteran Jorge Aspiazu of Salt Lake and service dog Toa to my office. Jorge serves his fellow vets throughout Hawai’i and the Pacific at the Veterans Health Administration out of Tripler. He’s on a prestigious one-year Department of Veterans Affairs Congressional Fellowship on the Hill with my colleague Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan. We talked story on how to improve veterans services; great to have his real-world insights as we work together this year.
My legislative record is the sum total of my efforts and accomplishments to fulfill my three-part mission to help lead our country, help our Hawai’i and help my constituents. It includes my votes in Congress (6,032 to date), legislation, work in my House Appropriations Committee and other committees and caucuses, speeches, joint letters and statements and more. I believe in making it readily available to let constituents know what I’m doing and why, to answer questions and to correct misunderstandings. My first and main effort is to provide a simple, central, transparent resource on my record and other efforts through my official website at https://t.co/MfldrEeT5L. In this release I also summarize my record on 20 key issues, my efforts in Appropriations, and my constituent services: https://t.co/Df3rOZdBy3.
I was honored to join my colleague and fellow appropriator, Rep. David Valadao (CA-22), whose family emigrated from the Azores to California in 1969, and other Portuguese American colleagues in introducing our measure to designate June as Portuguese National Heritage Month. Our Hawaii’s own Portuguese heritage dates back to the beginning of sustained immigration in 1878; we are the third highest % of total population of the states (after Rhode Island and Massachusetts). Multo Obrigado! https://t.co/n68aUw5ori
Mahalo to Jesus Arriola of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local 1998 for visiting me on Capitol Hill to discuss various member issues including focusing on aviation safety, protecting collective bargaining rights and continuing federal investments in our Hawai’i defense infrastructure at Pearl Harbor, Schofield Barrack and elsewhere. Agreed on all.
Greatly appreciated a visit and in-depth discussion with five Hawai’i registered nurses led by Elizabeth Kahakua, Executive Director of American Nurses Association-Hawai’i. We have almost 32,000 RNs throughout Hawai’i who do such critical work for all of us every day, but their (and thus our) challenges are numerous, starting with a shortage of at least 10%. We focused on federal initiatives including appropriations to address those severe issues. With gratitude for your service.
Our Hawai’i veterans and ‘ohana deserve to buried in a national cemetery in Hawai’i if they want. I testified in our House Veterans Affairs Committee in support of my bill, the Hawaii National Cemetery Act, to advance another national cemetery in Hawai’i, as our precious National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is closed to new casket burials and will soon run out of room for cremated remains. https://t.co/L6sALblyTS.
In Appropriations, deliberating Defense, our last and largest of twelve measures for upcoming fiscal year 2027, I spoke three times, on objections to the measure starting with no effective oversight of proposed huge increases, on the political purge of military leaders that has disproportionately targeted women and minorities, and on the need for updated missile defense for Hawai’i and our other Indo-Pacific, while also welcoming the adoption of several of my requests. My press release with clips to my remarks is here: https://t.co/K3bKBPTNeC
“Every business and family knows that sound finances start with sound budgeting, and governments are no different.” Congress’ budget process is broken and in crying need of reform. I joined my colleagues Reps. Steve Womack (R-Arkansas), Scott Peters (D-California) and Bill Huizenga (R-Michigan) in introducing our Budgeting for a Better America Act to fix it. More: https://t.co/e5Ustft3yh
I’m ranked 4th among all 214 U.S. House Democrats in Appropriations-approved Community Project Funding (specific direct Congressional funding to worthy individual community projects) for upcoming Fiscal Year 2027. My total record over the five fiscal years we’ve done CPFs is $326 million to 74 great district projects. More including a list of all the projects is here: https://t.co/uf9x2OoNTD
Humbling to represent so many inspiring people doing such good work. Visited David Malikan, founder in 2012 and Exec Director of He Ala Hou O Ke Ola, and his great team in Kalihi. HAHOKO (https://t.co/Q66F1SaYCk) is a unique community reintegration program for formerly incarcerated and other vulnerable ‘ohana “providing a new path of life through support and spiritual growth.” They’re way ready for their next phases and we discussed where and how federal efforts might contribute. Mahalo for all that you are doing.
Obon! Audrey and I joined the ‘Ewa Hongwanji Mission’s Bon Festival on a beautiful summer evening as my time to returning to DC ticks down. Mahalo for carrying such treasured parts of our heritage forward.
What an incredible, precious and world-leading institution in historical, cultural and scientific endeavor, with so many responsibilities, opportunities and needs. I checked in with new Prez/CEO Kristofer Helgen and his great staff to review federal funding I helped them get for their world-class ichthyology (fish) collection, update their efforts in many other areas, and confirm my next steps to assist. https://t.co/U9tnWH4DEv
Waipahu Walk Story! Home for a quick week between Appropriations Cte. work, I walked Farrington Hwy. businesses, talking story with owners, employees and customers about their concerns and answering questions. No surprises on priorities: cost of doing business, cost of living, health care, immigration, public safety and more. Really appreciate the real-world re-grounding on real issues and solutions before returning to Capitol Hill.
In 2020, as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I strongly supported passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, a landmark bipartisan conservation law that represented the most significant investment in U.S. national parks and other public lands in over 50 years. I just co-introduced a reauthorization of GAOA to celebrate our 250th birthday and further preserve our natural heritage.
Very full June continues in Appropriations and with meetings including: Pacific Island country leaders with my Pacific Islands Caucus; Planned Parenthood Hawai’i; Hawai’i Medicaid Director/Med-QUEST Administrator Meredith Nichols; and Hawaiian Telcom on federal support for statewide fiber extension.
How it’s supposed to work! Through my community outreach I learned that Kalihi Waena Elementary School (https://t.co/4IPJBkP0E8) needed a pedestrian bridge to get students to and from school safely. I took that back to my Appropriations Committee, which approved my request for $850,000 in Community Project Funding (https://t.co/uLd0tNZex1) to help out. Just got a beautiful mahalo t-shirt, bag and posters from the students. Huge mahalo back; Lion Pride!
Many of my requests were included in our Appropriations-Homeland Security FY27 funding measure, esp for FEMA/HI-EMA disaster response and Coast Guard/Indo-Pacific, though I couldn’t support the overall bill in its current form mainly because it doesn’t reform ICE/CBP immigration enforcement and cuts cybersecurity support. https://t.co/nr9qKWz8d5