We all understand that the Affordable Care Act is not working perfectly. In fact, any major piece of legislation like this has to be tweaked over time, has to be improved over time.
— Brian Schatz
Americans know our only response in the face of mounting risks from climate change must be the swift transition to a clean energy economy. We do not have the luxury of burying our heads in the sand.
America's brightest minds are charting a course to a clean energy future that will provide for our health, safety, and prosperity.
Local Arab partners and the Iraqi government must lead the fight against ISIL. U.S. military advisers are important to this effort, but we cannot be engaged in combat operations. That is why Congress must revoke the previous war authorization and define our appropriate role in defeating ISIL.
The tendency among Democrats, especially after a devastating loss, is to come up with either a new individual to lead us, a new strategy, a new slogan.
No one can fill Senator Daniel K. Inouye's shoes - but together, all of us, we can try to walk in his footsteps.
That's how the Pell Grant system works, in that you get a flat dollar amount, and you can use it for tuition or room and board.
President Trump, in a lot of ways - not just on policy but in terms of style - is everything that Hawaii is not.
Congressman Bridenstine's legislative record and his own testimony during his nomination hearing show that he rejects NASA's role in earth science, adopts industry perspectives without critical analysis, and embraces extreme and divisive social views. NASA deserves better.
People in the tech community may not like politics because it seems less interesting or less pure than what they're doing. But you see the result of not caring about politics. This is no longer an abstract problem.
We are now in a situation in which we will have to rely on market forces to maintain a free and open Internet. And nobody really knows whether that will work or not. One thing we do know is we didn't need to do this to ourselves. This was a solution in search of a problem.
We need a generation of net neutrality voters. People now really understand what's at stake, and we need to translate millions of comments to the FCC into millions of votes in the midterm.
Because these credit agencies operate in the dark, they are allowed to be terribly unfair and unaccountable.
We've shown a willingness to do the right thing, and we've shown a willingness to work in a bipartisan fashion. The problems are on the Republican side.
This was a theme of Sen. Akaka's career - to advocate for people who did not have power, for people who were vulnerable. He was a champion for the federal government employees who continue to this day to be a punching bag for some.
When former president Lyndon B. Johnson unveiled his plans for the program that would become Medicaid, he reflected on the future of public policy in the United States.
Our objective should be to have a competition of ideas... I think it's a golden age in terms of policy ideas when it comes to Democrats and health care.
It is certainly not news that the president is making mistakes; that he's been intemperate. I think what shouldn't be lost on the American people is that his first tweet around tapes was essentially designed to intimidate James Comey.
Americans are worried about climate change because they can already witness its effects. They see its signature in the drought in California, where record heat has dried the state's fertile soil.
I support the administrative rules promulgated by the Department of the Interior which permit a Native Hawaiian government to establish a relationship with the U.S. government. If Native Hawaiians form a government consistent with those rules and seek federal recognition, I would likely support the request.
I have served in the Senate since December 2012 with seats on the Appropriations and Commerce committees and previously served as the lieutenant governor and in the state House. These positions provided me insights on Hawaii's priorities and how to effectively work with stakeholders to achieve meaningful results.
I think there are districts - a lot of them - where Donald Trump is deeply unpopular, and tying your opponent to Donald Trump's unpopularity is a winning strategy. But that's not true for every district.
I just believe strongly that anybody who wants to pursue additional education after high school ought to be given that chance.
When we worked with the organization that represents students, they were unequivocal: They want debt-free college. And for many of those students, that has to include the total cost of attendance.
There was a summer during which the whole South Shore of Oahu, you could see the bleached coral almost across all of the surfing spots. And so it's gone from an issue that only environmentalists cared about to an issue that almost everybody in the state of Hawaii cares about, because it's really affecting our quality of life.
The scientific consensus is that climate change is real, urgent, and caused by humans. This science should be both supported and understood by anyone who hopes to lead NASA, one of our nation's top science agencies.
Telecom companies are doing very, very well. And the internet economy is doing very, very well.
There is no lack of profitability or investment among these telecommunications companies. There is nothing that an open-internet order did to them that diminished their success.
It's important and good to email the Federal Communications Commission, and it's important and good to educate your friends via social media about what's happening. But in a representative democracy, the way to get policy changes is through elections.
A missile attack is federal. A missile attack is not a local responsibility. Confirmation and notification of something like a missile attack should reside with the agency that knows first and knows for sure: in other words, the people who know should be the people who tell us.
The filibuster is used more aggressively, so I think doing each individual appropriations bill through regular order would be a home run. But I think that we should try to hit a few singles.
Sen. Akaka never forgot the cost of war on our country.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent allied with Democrats, has championed Medicare for All, which would give every American coverage through the federal health insurance program for seniors. Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow wants Medicare coverage for anyone over the age of 55.
For several days in July of 2012, Greenland surface ice cover melted more than at any time in 30 years of satellite observation. During that month, an estimated 97% of the ice sheet thawed.
I think it accrues to Hawaii's benefit that I have friends in Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin. We're already geographically isolated, so it's really critical that we don't become politically isolated.
While some members of Congress have attempted to stall progress on climate change, their actions amount to little more than political theater. We will not abandon our responsibility to our children and grandchildren, nor will we cede global leadership on the defining issue of our time.
The U.S. must continue to carefully withdraw troops from Afghanistan at a pace based on assessment of the ground conditions so we do not leave our Afghan partners unable to guarantee long-term security or risk Afghanistan becoming a terrorist safe haven again.
Anybody who thinks that they should lead the country should go ahead and put their hat in the ring. I am not among them. And I want to be unequivocal about that. There are no circumstances. I don't want to be coy about this.
We believe that if you want a strong middle class, you have to vote for Democrats.
For the first time in American history, it's not clear whether or not it's smart for a 17-year-old to enroll in college. It absolutely depends on the debt load and the quality of the institution. That is a change from the way things always were and, frankly, the way things always should be. It should always be a good idea to go to college.
Islands are going to suffer from climate change in very, very difficult ways. And it's not just Pacific islands. It's not just Puerto Rico.
Hawaii feels so passionately about climate. You know, our oceans are warming. As a result, we have more ocean acidification and coral bleaching. You can actually see it.
The good news is the Republicans have started to say the right things about net neutrality. The bad news is we're not particularly close on what a bill would look like.
I'm saying that when a publicly traded company says something doesn't make a difference in terms of their investments, I trust that they are representing those facts accurately.
I think there's a short-term legislative strategy. I think there's a longer-term legislative strategy in terms of enshrining net neutrality principles into law rather than a rule, and I think there's an election strategy.
Millions of Americans have bad credit because of mistakes from credit agencies, and it can ruin lives, stopping people from getting a job or owning a home or car.
The East-West Center directly supports the U.S. rebalance to the Asia Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue with countries in the region.
If there's ever a vote for single-payer, I'm a 'yes.' But there are lots of things we can do in the meantime.
There is a growing consensus in the private sector that companies can and should take action to address the problem of gun violence in our country.
On a mild day in January 2011, Republicans in the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It was the first of more than 80 attempts to dismantle the landmark law.
