Quotes from Mazie Hirono

No one should have to worry about whether they can afford the health care that one day might save their life.

It's worth remembering that immigrants come to this country to work, they don't come to get handouts.

That used to be one of my greatest fears growing up: my mom would get sick and then she wouldn't be able to go to work and then there is no food or money for rent.

When I arrived at the Capitol in 2007 to take my oath as a new member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I had the privilege of filling the seat held for so long and so well by my friend Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress. I was so grateful to her.

The thing about immigrants is the people who come to this country with that kind of drive? They are risk-takers. And we need risk-takers who want to improve their lives, create jobs and do those things that add to the dynamism of our economy.

I never took a path that was the usual path for someone in my generation. A lot of the women who I went to school with, in those days, it was still the track of becoming a teacher, becoming a nurse. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I didn't go down that path.

There are people in our country, in our communities who are being marginalized and discriminated against every single day. I fight for them.

When I'm at home, I eat kimchi every single day.

Gee, I wish that life were so black and white that you can't think of a single person who, you know, a good person who has done bad things.

I was born at home in rural Japan.

One of my favorite Japanese foods is called natto. It's fermented soybeans. I grew up in Japan eating natto. It's definitely an acquired taste. It's basically smelly.

At a pretty young age, I wanted to do something with my life that would help people. I've been that way for quite a while.

We should all be treating each other like human beings.

I've been very open about my health challenge because I think it's really important to let my constituents know that in spite of the fact that I am still in treatment, nothing about this treatment prevents me from doing my job.

We all know that the earlier cancer is detected the more successful treatment will be, and my cancer had spread to my ribs and that was a very fast-growing cancer.

Graham-Cassidy treats health care as a commodity that can be bought and sold.

The defense to slander is the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts.

Opinion is not slander.

Blue slips enable home-state senators to ensure that the federal judges serving in their states are highly qualified.

Our country is made up of groups of immigrants who came here hoping for a better life. They created America. It's a sad thing to have so many people not remember that, including Trump.

I am fighting kidney cancer. And I'm just so grateful that I had health insurance so that I could concentrate on the care that I needed rather than how the heck I was going to afford the care that was going to probably save my life.

My husband is half Korean.

I know our country can remain forward-thinking by ensuring young women and minorities are given equal opportunity.

I've been saying it at all our Senate Democratic retreats we need to speak to the heart, not in a manipulative way, not in a way that brings forth everybody's fears and resentments, but truly to speak to the heart so that people know that we're actually on their side.