Rep. Ed Case

Health week on the Hill. I welcomed five Hawai’i visitors to my office all deeply involved in improving public health, starting with Glen Higa of Kalihi, who has turned his own Parkinson’s journey into advocating with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for continued federal research funding toward a cure, then Dana Hernandez of Kea’au, same with her own family’s juvenile diabetes journey, with Breakthrough T1D, and Stephanie Nadolny of Honolulu’s Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, Dr. Tetine Sentell of the UH-Manoa Department of Public Health Sciences, and Dr. Olivia George of UH-West O’ahu for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

President Trump’s Jones Act waiver is necessary to maintaining fuel imports to Hawai’i via international shipping while the Iran war forces us to rely far more on domestic supply at the same time as domestic shipping to bring those imports to Hawai’i is increasingly unavailable. It “certainly shines a high-beam spotlight on the crippling effects of the Jones Act on the cost of living for Hawai’i.” case.house.gov/news/documents…

Small business focus: I supported the Small Business Innovation and Economy Security Act [congress.gov/bill/119th-con…] that passed Congress yesterday, including reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs, which assist domestic small businesses with research and development projects that can be commercialized; one solid avenue for our local small businesses to grow thru contracts with our federal government especially defense with benefits to our economy and good jobs.

Out of one storm and into another: redeyed back to Capitol Hill and first up was over 40 Mid Pacific Institute Pueo 8th graders on spring break; the Capitol was closed to usual tours cause of the weather so I busted them in myself and then did a tough Q&A in my office; refreshing!

Our economy and society depend on ease of international travel between Hawai’i and our Asia-Pacific ‘ohana. I urged the Department of Homeland Security to reject proposed new regulations that would impose oppressive and unnecessary requirements on lawful travel and tourism to Hawai’i. Here’s my letter: case.house.gov/uploadedfiles/… and press release: case.house.gov/news/documents….

I joined Rep. Tokuda at Univ of Hawai’i -West O’ahu for a shadow Congressional hearing to provide students with real-world exposure to our legislative branches, but it was a lot more than that with real discussions on difficult issues/wish more of our actual Congressional hearings were like that; plus dropped by ‘Ulu’ulu: The Henry Ku’ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai’i housed at UHWO (uluulu.westoahu.hawaii.edu) which includes the moving image records of Hawaii’s Members of Congress going way back.

I’m very grateful to have received a 100% report card from Defenders of Wildlife, a leading national conservation organization whose longtime mission is to protect, preserve and restore America's wildlife and their habitats. Nowhere is this more important than in our Hawai’i, and I work wherever I can with our friends and partners across the country and in Congress to advance our national and local goals. More: defenders.org/sites/default/…

Flood watch statewide thru weekend. Here's the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency's website for info and preparation. Take precautions and be safe. Call my office at (808) 650-6688 with any questions or needs. dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/

I joined a great colleague and friend, Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, in again co-introducing his DISCLOSE Act, which aims to “end the scourge of dark money in our democracy” under which, following the destructive 2010 Citizens United decision, the contributors of fully $1.9 billion in federal election spending in 2024 alone are purposely concealed through frontman super PACs and dark money groups. Our measure would require these dark money groups, who names disguise their purpose and commonly run attack ads, to fully disclose their donors for all to see and judge. More here: pappas.house.gov/media/press-re…

Our airspace throughout Hawai’i is getting more and more used and congested, increasing safety concerns and disrupting our homes, communities and special places. There is a better way. Your comments needed now docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… as the FAA undertakes a huge airspace “modernization” review. case.house.gov/news/email/sho…

Another full Capitol Hill week with many visitors from home including: Hawai’i Credit Union League; Brig. Gen. Phillip Mallory and team/Hawai’i Air National Guard; Chris Leonard, Jason Hagiwara and Jamie Hartnett/Hawai’i Assn of Broadcasters; Parent Teachers Assn/Hawai’i; Hawaiian Host Prez. Ed Schultz; Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum Exec. Director Andrew “Homer” Ring; TB Fighters/Tuberculosis Advocacy; Hawaiian Airlines pilot Ben Wilkie/Air Line Pilots Assn-Hawai’i; & Dewey Gottleib and Stacie Kaichi-Imamura/National Council of Teachers of Mathematics-Hawai’i.

Honoring the life of United States Representative Colleen Hanabusa (Hawai’i - First Congressional District) (1951-2026) (U.S. House of Representatives, 2011-15, 2016-19): case.house.gov/news/documents….

I just voted to assert Congress’ exclusive constitutional authority to authorize war. “No President should be allowed to ignore our Constitution and our foundational checks and balances and act unilaterally to take us into war.” Here’s my full statement: case.house.gov/news/documents…

My district office meetings back home for a long weekend included: Ellen Ng and other leaders of our local crypto industry on federal cryptocurrency legislation; Sang Yi, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) on strengthening our shipping lifeline; and the Pacific Forum (pacforum.org), a worldclass foreign policy research institute based in Honolulu and which I support in my Appropriations Committee.

I visited 82-year-old local company Pacific Marine & Supply at Honolulu Harbor Pier 24. With almost 400 employees now, PacMar and its subsidiaries (pacmarhawaii.com) are delivering high quality shipyard work to our Navy, Coast Guard and private fleets, plus doing some of the highest level R&D/production for the next generation of our maritime defense needs, all providing solid local jobs to our Hawai’i workforce and contributions to our economy. I also visited US Army Corps of Engineers Dredge Essayons, coming out of drydock there, to catch up on keeping our lifeline Hawai’i harbors fully navigable.

My latest districtwide Congressman Ed Case Reports enewsletter: “Iran: What Is Happening; What I Think; What Do You Think” case.house.gov/news/email/sho…

A very busy DC visitor week included: Ed Sniffen, Hawai’i State Transportation Department Director; Hawai’i Job Corps Center; our law enforcement/first responder community reps with the State of Hawai’i 9-1-1 Board; Deborah Rodgers on Stomach Cancer Advocacy Day; UH College of Tropical Agriculture; and new Hawaiian Airlines CEO Diana Birkett-Rakow.

My statement on U.S. military strikes on Iran: case.house.gov/news/documents…

I welcomed my Councilmember partners from four counties to my office as part of the Hawai’i State Association of Counties’ (hawaiicounties.org) Capitol Hill day to discuss their federal-level priorities, outline my Appropriations and other work, answer their questions and address how best to continue to partner to help our constituents and communities with our challenges.

In Hawai’i like the rest of our country we’ve never realized the full potential of open ocean aquaculture as a food, job and economic diversification source. I teamed with my colleague Mike Ezell (R-Mississippi) to lead legislation to accelerate open ocean aquaculture. Here’s our op-ed in The Hill, one of Congress’ main media sources, to outline this opportunity and our proposal. thehill.com/opinion/energy…