Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono

Creating and Protecting Jobs

Congresswoman Hirono understands the struggles our families are facing. Because she’s lived those struggles. When she was a small child in Japan, her mother endured a difficult home life at the hands of an abusive husband. Her mother plotted and planned in secret to get her children away. Congresswoman Hirono was nearly eight years old when her mother packed her and her brother onto a boat, and they literally escaped to America.

When they docked in Hawaii, they did so with little more than the clothes on their backs. It was a difficult life and Congresswoman Hirono’s mother worked hard to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

That’s why helping our families by getting our economy back on track and creating jobs are some of her top priorities.

Working For Hawaii

Investing in Hawaii’s Airports: For eleven years after passage of the Wendell Ford Aviation Investment & Reform Act for the 21^st Century, Hawaii’s airports have not been able to receive their fair share of the federal Airport Improvement Funds due to an unfair government formula. Working with state airport officials, Congresswoman Hirono successfully fought for an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration bill to correct this and ensure Hawaii’s busiest airports receive millions of dollars over the next four years. The legislation to fix this situation was signed into law by President Obama on February 14, 2012. This will help Hawaii improve our airports without increasing costs for inter-island passengers. 

 
Congresswoman Hirono meets with Hawaii Transportation Department officals about the airport
improvements she helped secure. The Hawaii Department of Transportation looks foward
to using these new funds to modernize and update Kahului Airport -- including adding more lines
through security to reduce the time it takes to arrive at our gate.

 
Promoting Job Creation in Hawaii Through Visa Reform: As Lieutenant Governor, Congresswoman Hirono worked to increase tourism to Hawaii by advocating for faster visa processing for South Korea visitors. As a member of Congress, she was able to finish this work by cosponsoring and helping to pass the 9/11 Commission Act. This legislation helped pave the way for South Korea’s entrance into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. Recent statistics show that in 2010, Hawaii welcomed more than 80,000 Korean visitors—a 59% increase over 2009. Congresswoman Hirono believes that common sense visa reforms can help boost our economy. That’s why she introduced the VISIT USA Act. This bipartisan visa reform legislation will help us welcome more visitors from China, India, Brazil, and Canada. It has the potential to create 6,000 jobs in Hawaii and pump an estimated $600 million into our local economy. President Obama has come out in support of similar visa reforms.  Congresswoman Hirono also supported passage of the 2012 federal spending bill, which provides the State Department with the ability to speed up visa processing in places like China, India, and Brazil—and bring more tourists to Hawaii and the U.S.

With Brand USA board member Roy Yamaguchi and Hawaii Tourism Authority's
Mike McCartney, Congresswoman Hirono announces the VISIT USA Act

Promoting Relationships with Asia-Pacific Partners: The Asia Pacific region accounts for 55 percent of the world’s economic activity, and 2.7 BILLION consumers. To help make it easier for our country and economic partners in the region do business together, Congresswoman Hirono cosponsored the APEC Business Travel Card Act. President Obama signed this legislation into law at the 2011 APEC Summit in Honolulu.

Tireless Advocate for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: In December 2011, Congress passed legislation extending the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs—vital programs that provide opportunities for small businesses and innovative entrepreneurs to apply their ideas for the common good, while launching those ideas into successful job creating ventures. Congresswoman Hirono introduced similar legislation earlier in 2011 that would extend and expand opportunities to more entrepreneurs in Hawaii and across the nation. In 2010, she also cosponsored the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, which invests in research and education, particularly the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

Equal Pay for Equal Work: Congresswoman Hirono believes in equal pay for equal work. That’s why she cosponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier to challenge pay discrimination in court. It applies to workers who file claims of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, age, or disability, and restores fairness to any employee who has been paid less than their coworkers. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill signed into law by President Obama.

Building a Better Hawaii: As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congresswoman Hirono knows that making investments to fix and improve our roads, bridges, harbors and airports creates jobs. Working with the Hawaii delegation, she successfully advocated for the state of Hawaii’s applications for highly competitive federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant funds to modernize and improve Pier 29 at Honolulu Harbor and continue work on completing Saddle Road on Hawaii Island.

Supporting Our Unemployed: Congresswoman Hirono understands that in these difficult times, as we’ve faced record unemployment, it’s been hard for many of our families and neighbors to find work. That’s why she cosponsored the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 and the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which were signed into law to provide additional emergency unemployment compensation. Research has shown that unemployment dollars, which commonly are used for necessities like food or rent, tend to be recirculated quickly, which helps give a boost to our small businesses and economy.

Helping Hawaii Be the Seat of Diplomacy Between East and West: With almost 4,000 participants a year, the East-West Center (EWC) has been a key institution in our nation’s diplomacy efforts. EWC played a leading role in the 2011 APEC summit: chairing the first official meeting of the U.S. APEC Year, leading the committee that developed Hawaii’s proposal to be named host, and providing essential research support. The federal commitments that EWC has received from 2007-2010 with the delegation’s help funds its integral work supporting our nation’s positions in Asia and the Pacific.