Aloha, Friend! I hope your summer is going well. July is always one of Congress’ busiest months. Proposed legislation is being considered in our committees and the full House. Our annual federal funding process, especially in the Appropriations Committee on which I serve, is in full swing toward the October 1st beginning of the next fiscal year. Members have been working intensely together for half a year and the polarization and just plain silliness hit a peak. Communications from constituents are at their highest levels and need answering, and folks from back home are visiting D.C. and we’re helping with tours and other guidance. In the district, questions and needs from constituents are also high. If you’re not fully prepared for it, both the expected and the unexpected, it can overwhelm you. My staff and I have been here before and so do as much up front as we can and then stay focused through the month on each of the three parts of my mission: (1) contribute to national leadership; (2) help Hawai‘i; and (3) help those we serve. Here’s a sampling of our July activities:
- Talking Story With My District. Before I returned to Capitol Hill, I kicked off the month in Honolulu with another live districtwide Tele-Talk Story. I summarized the major issues we face and answered a variety of questions. Here is a replay of my event.
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- Focusing on Appropriations. This is my primary focus midyear. This year’s appropriations process has been a mix of disappointing proposals on the national level but solid results for Hawai‘i and our Pacific. Here are links to my releases on the various bills we have considered in our Appropriations Committee.
- Implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (aka Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act or IRA. These generational laws from last Congress can transform Hawaii’s aging infrastructure, transform our energy sources, connect our communities, strengthen our social safety net and much more. But these laws are only as good as their implementation and our ability back home to obtain the funding. For me, this Congress is about working with my partners in state and local government and our communities to be sure everybody knows what is available and then help them to get it. Here is my website tracking BIL programs and funding to Hawai‘i to date, totaling fa more than $1.2 billion with much more expected, and here is my website tracking the IRA program and funding including most recently $26 million for Hawai‘i climate resilience.
- Defueling and Closing Red Hill and Helping with Health Impacts. With a ton of focus, coordination, oversight and still more federal funding (totaling now over $2 billion), we are finally closing in on the actual defueling and closing of Red Hill, hopefully starting in October. This estimated four month process will drain most of the fuel from the tanks, leaving a small residual amount which will take longer to remove before the facility is closed. At the same time, Senator Schatz and I with Senator Hirono and Representative Tokuda introduced legislation here to assure we fully address any continuing and long-term health impacts of the Red Hill leaks.
- Assuring Full PACT Act Benefits to our Veterans and Survivors. Our 2022 Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins (PACT) Act, which I proudly co-introduced and which became law last Congress, is one of the largest Veterans Administration healthcare and benefits expansions ever. But it is only as good as our veterans and survivors gaining full access to its benefits, and a major deadline is coming up Wednesday, August 9th to file for full benefits back to the law’s enactment. I am outreaching to our Hawai‘i veterans community to urge filing before then and offer my assistance; more here.
- Tackling Unfair and Discriminatory Product Shipping Policies for Hawai‘i. We have all had the upsetting experience of ordering needed products online, only to have notice pop up that the product “does not ship to Hawai‘i and Alaska” or that the cost of shipping is "international rate" or higher than from anywhere to anywhere on the mainland. That is unfair and discriminatory to Hawai‘i and the other non-mainland parts of our country. To eliminate this practice, I introduced my Fair Shipping for Non-Contiguous Areas Act. More here.
- Saving Our World’s Oceans. I also continued my focus on my Natural Resources Committee, and received the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation's Leadership Award for my efforts to save our oceans here. Following up, I introduced two measures to hit pause on potentially destructive deep seabed mining until we are very sure of its real consequences to our marine environment and how best to prevent and mitigate permanent harm. More here. Shortly after, the international organization responsible for reviewing seabed mining and issuing permits decided to delay full-scale mining permitting until we have a better sense of the environmental impacts.
- Supporting Our Hawai‘i National Guard. The thousands of our own citizen soldiers in the Hawai‘i Army and Air Guard serve us with dedication and professionalism, from difficult deployments overseas to protecting our U.S. Capitol post-January 6th to disaster preparedness and relief. Their expertise depends on organization, preparation and experience. I was privileged to visit our Army Guard on a very difficult month-long advanced combat training deployment to the Army’s elite Joint Readiness Training Center in the stifling heat and humidity of mid-summer Fort Johnson, Louisiana. I was deeply proud of their performance and of the praise provided by their trainers. More here.
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- Helping Constituents With Their Individual Questions and Needs. In this critical part of my job, my office and I assist our constituents with all manner of concerns, especially federal government issues like veterans and social security benefits, immigration and passports. As one example, this month we worked with the Navy to get a sailor's detailed billing records for unexpected overseas medical care after his insurer would not honor his claim for tens of thousands of dollars without such records. We are always available to help with such concerns; just contact us at my Honolulu district office at (808) 650-6688 or [email protected].
- Maintaining an Organized and Focused Team. I cannot do this job alone, and am privileged to be assisted by a great staff in my Capitol Hill and Honolulu office who share a commitment to public service. Once a year I gather my full staff together in D.C. for a weekend where we set the day-to-day work aside, and step back and focus on what we’ve done well, where we need to improve, and what our plan is going forward. This July’s retreat was especially productive in getting us through mid-year and staying on the same page through ’23 and into next year.
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I hope this provides some sense of the range of my activities on behalf of our country and Hawai‘i in a busy month. There’s much more on my website at case.house.gov, and you can always contact us to ask about any of my efforts and to provide guidance on where you believe I need to focus.
As always, I deeply appreciate your consideration and assistance as we all work to find the best way forward for our country and Hawai‘i. For more information on my efforts, and how we can help you, please visit case.house.gov. If I can help you and yours with your own questions and needs, email us at [email protected], or call us at (808) 650-6688.
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