Rep. Ed Case

Teamwork over time pays off. In ’21 I cointroduced the Restoring Resilient Reefs Act with Florida and other colleagues to advance our collective efforts to conserve and sustain our endangered coral reefs; Sens. Schatz and Hirono did the same in the Senate. I also got Dr. Robert Richmond, Director of UH’s Kewalo Marine Lab, to testify before my House Natural Resources Committee in support of Hawaii’s special role and expertise (youtube.com/watch?v=vGzLRf…). In ’23 we got it included in another bill which was signed into law and established two cooperative institutes to coordinate our efforts nationwide: the Atlantic Coral Reef Institute and the Pacific Coral Reef Institute. Now UH has been officially designated as the Pacific Institute, cementing our leadership in international coral reef conservation (and bringing solid funding and jobs to Hawai’i). manoa.hawaii.edu/news/article.p…

For federal Kona Low storm damage disaster assistance, a major disaster declaration is just the first step; the actual money still has to be appropriated by Congress. In my House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which funds the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through which disaster assistance flows, I closely questioned FEMA Acting Administrator Evans on replenishing FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, which is running dangerously low, by over $50 billion this year and next to fully assist Hawai’i and other disaster affected areas including our ‘ohana Guam and the Northern Marianas. youtu.be/DV-BOgs8pBA

My statement to Secretary of the Army Driscoll in my House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on the firing of General Randy George, our highest ranking Army  officer: “When you collectively – the President, Secretary of Defense and yourself – decide to summarily fire the Chief of Staff of the Army, publicly, overtly, and I would say humiliatingly, cruelly, without any offer apparently of a graceful exit, you at least owe Congress, the public, and most important the soldiers, an explanation, which you did not do.” youtu.be/6SFMwchOyJU

In my Appropriations Committee I secured $307 million for 54 great community projects throughout my district in the last five years. Just a few examples: Blood Bank Hawai’i/new headquarters $2 million; Highlands Intermediate School/media center $300,000; Institute for Human Services/Village of Redemption/$500,000; City and County/Waikiki Vista/shelter $1 million; Catholic Charities Hawai’i/Hale Aloha $1.9 million; Papakolea/sewer improvements $1.092 million; Honolulu Fire Department/HQ improvements $2 million; Lunalilo Home/roof $1.74 million. Here’s a video summary: youtu.be/M6nV7BmLDhw?si… and the full list: case.house.gov/UploadedFiles/…

I crunched back into the mess that is DC today with continuing top priorities inflation/cost of living, Iran war, funding Homeland Security and intense Fiscal Year ’27 Appropriations Committee hearings, plus hosting a variety of visitors to my office, including yesterday: U.S. Army Reserve, Hawai’i Shipyards/Marisco, Hawaii Water Works Assn, Pacific Shellfish Growers, ‘Olelo Community Media, and Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA).

I welcomed thirty great mid-career Department of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) Foreign Service Officers from our embassies and consulates across the Indo-Pacific to Honolulu as the Capstone of EAP’s annual Future Leaders Program. We had a full talk story on leadership, appropriations, current issues and best practices for engaging with Congress. I am proud of and grateful for these true public servants who are the critical first line for our relations with other countries and the lifeline for our own residents, travellers and businesses overseas.

Growing up Big island the Pacific & Asian Affairs Council opened me to a broader world. I joined 42 really impressive public high school Statewide Student Ambassadors reporting back  from study visits to the Philippines, Korea and Japan at the East-West Center under a great partnership between EWC, PAAC and the Hawai’i Dept of Education. Exciting to share their excitement and learn what they learned.

Tripler Army Medical Center is a critical pillar of not just Hawai’i but Indo-Pacific health care, but excessive deferred maintenance and other constraints are risking its mission. A lot of hard work in Congress and our armed services over years is starting to pay off with some $300 million in repairs and modernization slated for Tripler over the next few years and more including parking in advanced planning phases. I joined Gen. Deidre Teyhen, Director, Defense Health Network Indo-Pacific, Col. William Bimson, Tripler Commander, and their great team for a briefing on status, issues and how I can keep progress aligned especially in Appropriations.

I visited Par Hawai’i and Hawai’i Gas, two of Hawaii’s critical energy suppliers, from fuel for electric power to gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, natural gas, propane and more, at their Kapolei plants to stay up to date on the severe impacts and risks of the Iran war on our energy supply and prices as well as what I can do to keep Hawai’i energy as available and affordable as possible during this time of severe disruption in world energy supply.

Staying fully aligned with my state and county government partners on local concerns  and how I can help, I joined Honolulu City Councilmember Augie Tulba on a visit around his Waipahu/’Ewa district to talk story on maintaining the Pearl Harbor bike path, advancing transit-oriented development along Skyline, providing the right services for our homeless, cleaning up Kona Low flood damage, improving pedestrian safety on North Road, assisting our veterans and more. Mahalo, Councilmember Tulba; we are helping on all and I’m taking a bunch of ideas back to DC on doing more.

While we await a Kona Low major disaster declaration to unlock critical federal assistance, I visited Principal Ervin Pasalo at Hokulani Elementary School near UH Manoa where an overflowing Manoa Stream flooded out and closed the school to check on cleanup and repair and on the students completing the year at other schools. Be careful and safe on the next incoming storm; O’ahu info: honolulu.gov/dem/

Full focus on maternal health and wellbeing. Honored to join my Appropriations colleague Rep. Lauren Underwood (Illinois) and many others in reintroducing our “Momnibus”, a legislative package of 14 bills that comprehensively address every driver of maternal mortality, morbidity and disparities throughout the country. More here: underwood.house.gov/media/press-re… #Momnibus

One of the bright spots in each year in Congress is my Congressional Art Competition among high school students throughout my district, part of Congress’ effort to highlight and advance artistic talent and contributions to our communities. My 2026 competition is open and my submission deadline is in 3 weeks on April 24. Really looking forward to seeing what our students submit this year and to hanging the winners’ artwork in our Capitol and my offices. case.house.gov/forms/submitar…

Always really gratifying to my great staff and me to be able to assist a constituent who just needed some help. For more information on our constituent services: case.house.gov/forms/casework/

Hawai’i and Alaska have always enjoyed a strong partnership in Congress. I co-introduced Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska’s Airport Regulatory Relief Act, which will help states like ours with more small rural airports. Our legislation just passed the House: begich.house.gov/media/press-re…

Mahalo to the Honolulu @StarAdvertiser for a little humor and two solid truths.

Here’s my next regular Congressman Ed Case Reports e-newsletter to my district, this one on: Iran; Kona Low Storms; Homeland Security; FY ’27 Appropriations; Cost of Living; Survey Results. case.house.gov/news/email/sho…

Army in the House! As a member of our Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I’m responsible for overseeing and funding our nation’s armed services. Last week brought three Army leaders to my office to discuss the Army overall and throughout the Indo-Pacific and Hawai’i: General Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the Army (the Army’s senior uniformed officer, who very graciously offered some life tips to my University of Hawai’i intern, Tuyen Pham); Lieutenant General JB Vowell, U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) Deputy Commanding General headquartered Fort Shafter; and Major General Jay Bartholomees, Commander, 25th Infantry Division (Tropic Lightning) headquartered Schofield Barracks.

We don’t have to ship the sun, wind, water and other sources of energy to Hawai’i for our energy needs. The most effective way to lower soaring utility costs for American households is to expand access to renewable energy - the fastest, most reliable and most effective energy source. I joined my colleagues in our House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) in introducing our Energy Bills Relief Act to shift the focus of our national energy policy from producers to consumers with our roadmap to maximize renewable energy. More: seec.house.gov/media/press-re…. #EnergyBillsReliefAct, #EBRA, #CleanEnergyIsCheapEnergy, #LowerMyEnergyBill

On this National Vietnam War Veterans Day, we remember and honor the 2.7 million of our own who served in Vietnam, including Bo Mahoe of Maui, who today is one of just twenty Vietnam vets nationwide who’ll be receiving the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s Service Beyond Service Award at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall here in DC in recognition of their post-military service to their communities. Bo served ’70-’71 with the US Army’s 1st Cavalry Division; he and wife Karen visited.