MAZIE HIRONO

The U.S. Navy has suspended use of World War II-era fuel storage complex above a Hawaii aquifer that supplies nearly 20% of Honolulu’s drinking water.

Women — and some men — in Congress have been fighting for government child care assistance for almost 80 years.

Many progressives have started lining up behind an emerging social and environment bill that’s neither as big nor as bold as they’d wanted.

Some Native Hawaiians are objecting to President Joe Biden’s choice for U.S. attorney in the 50th state, saying Clare Connors treated dozens of elders like criminals when her office prosecuted them for blocking a road while protesting the construction of a telescope in Hawaii.

The nomination of a Pakistani-born businessman who'd be the highest-ranking Muslim in the U.S. government is in jeopardy because Senate Republicans have repeatedly blocked his confirmation.

It's been a tempestuous week in Washington, with insults and accusations flying, deadlines pressing and some major things to get done.

“It’s pretty sad if you ask me,” Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii said when asked about the West Virginia senator's outline of a $1.5 trillion reconciliation bill.

While hate crimes in the U.S. increased last year by 2% overall, hate crimes against Americans of Asian-American and Pacific Islander descent rose by 146%; they have had to weather discrimination and violence many times before.

VP Harris is hosting a dinner for GOP and Democratic women

VP Harris is hosting a dinner for GOP and Democratic women

U.S. forces face a deadline to withdraw by September 11, 2021.

There's a new vibe at the White House of late: Hugs are in.

President Joe Biden has signed legislation intended to curtail a dramatic rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The bill passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Bill has already passed Senate and will now be sent to president for his signature

The bill, which was approved in the Senate last month, is expected to pass in the House.

President Joe Biden laid out a long list of policy priorities in his speech to Congress, and some are more politically plausible than others.

President Joe Biden laid out a long list of policy priorities in his speech to Congress, and some are more politically plausible than others.

The pictures always make it look so presidential.

The junior senator from Texas initially slammed the bill as “a messaging tactic” but...

<figcaption> U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz voted in favor of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, after initially opposing it, because of an amendment from a Republican colleague that passed. <cite>Credit: Jason Andrew/Pool via REUTERS</cite> </figcaption>

Its passage comes amid an uptick in crimes targeting Asians in recent months.

The Senate has passed legislation to combat the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The Senate approved a bill Thursday that aims to curb a rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.

The junior senator was among only six Republicans who opposed advancing a bill that would...

Chuck Schumer said the Senate would vote on the bill, the most concrete step Congress has taken to address hate crimes against Asian Americans.

<figcaption> U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said hate crimes and racist violence directed at anyone “should be vigorously prosecuted” but he called a bill to address hate crimes against Asian-Americans a “messaging tactic.” <cite>Credit: Shawn Thew/Pool via REUTERS</cite> </figcaption>

Schumer said that he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are negotiating amendments to be added to the bill.

The Senate has opened debate on legislation confronting the rise of potential hate crimes against Asian Americans.

A bill under consideration would try to make it easier to report and prosecute hate crimes against Asian Americans.

The Senate will take up the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act this week, although it is unclear whether it will receive GOP support.

After a surge in violence against Asian Americans, thousands took part in protests across the country to raise awareness about racial discrimination that Asian Americans have experienced for decades, as organizers demanded legislative action to combat the issue. According to Stop AAPI Hate, roughly 3,800 hate crimes against Asian Americans have been reported from March 2020 to April 2021. #StopAsianHate — Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) March 26, 2021Many Asian Americans and allies shared their own stories online. On Friday night, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans held a virtual worldwide vigil in honor of the Asian American women killed in the Atlanta-area shootings. Mr. Biden, who has urged Congress to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, added, "Hate can have no safe harbor in America.

Hawaii Democratic Senator Hirono on AAPI representation, countering racism and gun reform efforts Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono joins "CBS This Morning" to talk about Asian American and Pacific Islander representation in the Biden administration, combating racism and the renewed efforts to pass gun reform.

The reversal followed multiple conversations with White House officials and pledges from President Biden to promote diversity. The White House will add a senior level Asian American Pacific Islander liaison, who will ensure the community's voice is further represented and heard." In a 50-50 Senate where every Democratic vote counts, the White House may not be able to get some of its nominees confirmed if she votes no. Hirono and Duckworth both pressed White House deputy chief of staff Jen O'Malley Dillon on the issue during a during a Zoom call between the White House and the Senate Democratic Caucus. "We would like to have a commitment from the White House that there'll be more diversity representation in the cabinet and in senior White House positions," she said.

The White House said it will appoint a "senior level" Asian American Pacific Islander liaison, an official told NBC News on Wednesday. Duckworth and Hirono later walked back the threats, saying they had received new assurances from the White House. "The President has made it clear that his Administration will reflect the diversity of the country. That has always been, and remains our goal," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. "The White House will add a senior level Asian American Pacific Islander liaison, who will ensure the community's voice is further represented and heard," Psaki said.

Biden's meticulous approach to the presidency is intended to serve as a stark departure from the chaos of his predecessor, Donald Trump. Two Democratic senators, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, condemned the lack of diversity in Biden's Cabinet. AdDuckworth said she raised her concerns with the White House on Tuesday and she and Hirono threatened to withhold their votes on nominations until the administration addressed the matter. Just before news of the Colorado shooting, White House aides leaked preliminary word about their next priority, a potentially $3 billion package with money for developing roads, hospitals, schools and green energy systems. But for that program, like other legislative priorities, the White House faces tough prospects for any Republican support and would be forced to proceed along a party-line vote.

The only senators of Asian American heritage, they said they would withhold their support for his nominees until the diversity issue was addressed. AdDuckworth had said earlier that she raised the issue with top Biden advisers on Tuesday and afterward called the situation “not acceptable." “I’ve been talking to them for months and they’re still not aggressive, so I’m not going to be voting for any nominee from the White House other than diversity nominees,” Duckworth told reporters. But Hirono later said in a statement of her own that she too welcomed the appointment of an AAPI White House liaison and was dropping her objections. Tai, who was confirmed last week, is the first Asian American and first woman of color to serve as U.S. trade representative.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Tough as it was for Democrats, passing President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package into law was the easy part. Biden’s signing of the American Rescue Plan on Thursday marks a milestone for his administration and for Democrats who have command of the House, Senate and White House for the first time in a decade. If Senate Republicans start blocking the legislation, Democrats are prepared to force them into long days and nights of dramatic floor filibusters, like the movie version in “Mr. The filibuster gives the minority enormous ability to halt action, and Senate Democrats used it plenty of times when they were out of power. Still, Biden's infrastructure package may be one bill that could win over Republican support.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Tough as it was for Democrats, passing President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package into law was the easy part. If Senate Republicans start blocking the legislation, Democrats are prepared to force them into long days and nights of dramatic floor filibusters, like the movie version in “Mr. The filibuster gives the minority enormous ability to halt action, and Senate Democrats used it plenty of times when they were out of power. Still, Biden's infrastructure package may be one bill that could win over Republican support. Doubting bipartisanship will emerge, there is growing support among Democratic senators to do away with the filibuster if Republicans use it to block Biden's bills.

The House Democrats charged that Trump incited the violent insurrection, which left five dead, and the former president appeared to side with the rioters on the call. A few hours later, the Senate voted to acquit Trump, 57-43, the majority falling short of the two-thirds needed for conviction. The momentary chaos, and the House Democrats’ eventual retreat on witnesses, was emblematic of the prosecutors’ challenge throughout the trial. But “we overwhelmingly proved our case.”Several senators agreed — three of the seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump had voted not to call witnesses. “The House managers did a masterful job,” he said after the final vote.

A new Democratic bill would make it easier for targets of harassment to sue social media platforms that host abusive or harmful content. The "SAFE TECH Act," led by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and backed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, would amend the shield that protects tech platforms from liability for their users' posts. Instead, the SAFE TECH Act would clarify that Section 230 immunity would not apply in several cases. The SAFE TECH Act, on the other hand, opens up the ways platforms can be sued for hosting certain types of content.

Thousands had gathered that day as Congress voted to formally certify President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in November. Hawley and Cruz led objections in the Senate to Biden’s victory, despite the widespread recognition that the effort would fail. And both senators used their objections for political fundraising,” the Democratic senators said in their letter. Cruz helped force a vote on Biden's victory in Arizona, while Hawley helped force one on Biden's victory in Pennsylvania. “This latest effort is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge."

Gavin Newsom speaks at a COVID-19 testing facility in Valencia, Calif. As California Gov. Gavin Newsom's shoulders as he considers his pick to serve out the rest of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' Senate term through 2022. The South saw its highest number of Black Senate candidates ever this year, but none won races outright. Labor icon Dolores Huerta and California Latinas for Reproductive Justice want Newsom to appoint a Black woman. De Leon won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party and prominent labor unions, in part because of his support for immigrant rights and aggressive policies to curb climate change.

The military theme originated in the May 15 announcement of the creation of Operation Warp Speed. “We will defeat the enemy.”But it has been Trump, not Perna, who has miscast the military's role. Trump said in his initial announcement the military would “deploy every plane, truck and soldier required" to distribute a vaccine when ready. “There will not be this vision that some people have that there will be Army trucks driving through the streets delivering vaccine,” Perna said Oct. 27. The prominence of military officials in Operation Warp Speed has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where some have questioned whether an outsize military leadership role would marginalize public health agencies.

Hearings before the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee will begin Monday, Oct. 12, for President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF.Harris, Joe Biden's running mate in the presidential election, will again be in the spotlight as Democrats question a Trump nominee for the Supreme Court. Harris and other key Democrats said the hearings should not move forward without plans to test people attending, including senators, for coronavirus. In a sign of the heightened scrutiny, Vice President Mike Pence tried to get Harris to reveal whether she and Biden support expanding the Supreme Court, as many liberals advocate. In just three years on the 7th Circuit, Barrett has twice argued for approval of abortion restrictions that violated Supreme Court precedent, Hirono said.

Democrats are treading carefully on religious faith as they prepare to question President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee. “I don’t intend to question her about her personal views or private religious faith or views,” Coons, a key Biden ally, said this past week. Fearful of losing the high court for a generation, the left is demanding that Democrats resist Barrett's nomination with everything they have. Republicans have preemptively declared any discussion of Barrett’s faith out of bounds. But specifics about Barrett’s faith, such as broaching People of Praise, would have “a bad odor,” Franke said.

The American Bar Association is rating the Mississippi judge as well qualified to serve on one of the most conservative federal appeals courts. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases for Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)WASHINGTON The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a federal appeals court nominee from Mississippi, despite Democratic objections over derisive comments he made about former President Barack Obama and his signature health care legislation. The GOP-led panel endorsed Mississippi Appeals Court Judge Cory Wilson on a 12-10, party-line vote. Wilson, a former Republican state legislator who has been on the state appeals court for 16 months, was nominated by President Donald Trump for a seat on the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.

(AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)RIO RANCHO, N.M. New Mexico has moved closer to possibly sending a historic delegation of all women of color to the U.S. House. Former state lawmaker Yvette Herrell, a member of the Cherokee Nation, won a heated Republican primary race to challenge Torres Small November in a swing district representing southern New Mexico. Hawaii had a two-member all women of color U.S. House delegation with GOP U.S. Rep. Patricia Saiki and Democratic U.S. Rep. Delewares lone member of the House is Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a black woman. But New Mexico could wind up with the largest U.S. House delegation of women or women of color in history.