Mazie Hirono
It's clear that health care is a concern for people all across the country regardless of their political stripe or where they live.Collection: Health
My friend Patsy Mink was a champion for social and economic justice, equality and civil rights for women and marginalized communities. She was a trailblazer who never backed down from a challenge and whose work in Hawaii and Congress brought positive change to the lives of women, children, and minorities in Hawaii and across the country.Collection: Equality
The defense to slander is the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts.Collection: Truth
Women are problem solvers, and often we don't get much credit for that because the typical image of a leader is someone who's loud, obnoxious, chest-pounding. That's not my vision of what true leadership is; true leaders are the ones who work with great commitment to get something done.Collection: Leadership
It is clear that our national security and economic growth are tied to affordable, abundant energy sources.
There are people in our country, in our communities who are being marginalized and discriminated against every single day. I fight for them.
We don't need another nuclear arms race to proceed a pace and then to encourage other countries to become very, to develop these kinds of capabilities also. This is not what we need.
We should all be treating each other like human beings.
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.
Browbeating the tech industry for a problem that does not exist also draws attention away from the real problems with Google and other tech companies.
Opinion is not slander.
My deep emotional connection to my mother, a remarkable woman who made a hard choice to save her children, and who valiantly struggled to care for us as a single parent, is the current that has driven my entire life. Everything I've accomplished is a testament to her fortitude.
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.
I got involved in the political arena in college, protesting the Vietnam War, and became friends with some of the activists at the University of Hawaii.
In our country, racism is never far below the surface.
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.
I had run other people's campaigns. I had been doing political activities for a decade before I ever ran for office myself. That is so much the experience of women of my generation. We always feel as though we have to bring so much more to the table, and that never stops the guys.
I've been a fighter all my life. I just don't look like that.
If I had to wait around for somebody to pick me for lieutenant governor, I never would have been picked.
I was born at home in rural Japan.
I lost a sister to pneumonia, when she was 2 years old. She died at home, not in a hospital, where maybe her life could have been saved.
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.
As I walk to my office every morning, I know I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me.
I know our country can remain forward-thinking by ensuring young women and minorities are given equal opportunity.
Running for office is not easy. It's not enough to want it.
The undocumented should pay penalties for the laws they broke by coming here, but we should remember that the founding fathers were willing to break up an empire to achieve their dreams.
Both political parties should be able to support the idea that taxpayers who are lawfully present, working, and paying taxes should be able to use the programs their tax dollars pay for - it is only fair.
When we in Congress set the terms under which immigrants in this country must live, we wield a power that is checked primarily by our individual sense of fairness: the power to set taxes and make laws that apply to people who do not have representation.
It's worth remembering that immigrants come to this country to work, they don't come to get handouts.
My husband is half Korean.
When I'm at home, I eat kimchi every single day.
That is the great thing about Hawaii. We're so culturally diverse and we inner-marry and appreciate each other's cultures.
Most of us look forward to the start of a new year as a clean slate. We reflect on the past 12 months, take stock of where we are, and make new resolutions about how to improve in the coming year.
The passing of my friend and a great American hero, Dan Inouye, is a major loss for the country and Hawaii. But the people of Hawaii are strong and we will persevere.
I will work hard to ensure Hawaii's strategic position in our national security remains strong.
Our military's presence in Hawaii not only plays a critical role in our national security but also in driving our state's economy and supporting thousands of jobs in the public and private sectors.
Diversifying our energy sources will create jobs, improve our national security and lay the foundation for a strong, sustainable economy in the future.
Clearly, there is a growing market for affordable, abundant and sustainable energy. Industry is working to meet the needs of this market, and in the process is creating jobs, technologies and industries in states across the country.
For the Navy, developing alternatives to fossil fuels isn't just about fighting climate change - though that's an important side benefit. Biofuels will also play a much more practical role in the Navy's fuel mix, boosting our energy security and supporting the U.S. economy.
I was in sixth grade at Koko Head Elementary School in Honolulu, and was chosen to pin the 50th star on the American flag in front of my teachers and classmates at a special assembly to celebrate statehood.
Like my fellow citizens in Hawaii, I am a proud American.
I would never criticize a judge just because he or she presides in another state, including Alabama.
Hawaii - the Aloha state - is built on the strength of its multicultural society, from our indigenous Native Hawaiian people to the many immigrants that followed.
I know who I fight for and why.
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.
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.
We work really hard to get elected.
The Trump administration gives me so many more opportunities to be verbal and vocal.
In Hawaii we understand why it is important to malama, or take care of, our land, ocean, and air - our way of life depends on it.