Quotes from Brian Schatz

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 FCC is a quasi-judicial body. It is supposed to undertake this period of public comment with a degree of seriousness and respect.

One of things I have always been open to is making policy in the Senate Commerce Committee.

I am always open to a conversation. I am always open to a bipartisan compromise.

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.

President Trump, in a lot of ways - not just on policy but in terms of style - is everything that Hawaii is not.

When the Obama administration passed the net neutrality rules in 2015, even when we were winning, I favored trying to get these rules in a statute, because I feel that the best way to establish predictability for the marketplace is to make sure they're not subject to the whims of a partisan vote at the FCC.

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.

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.

To address the open question of whether we are addicted to technological devices and platforms, Congress must understand the current scientific consensus, potential gaps in research, and the best way to build a body of evidence that can inform effective policymaking.

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.

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.