Speeches & Testimony

Mr. Speaker: Today I again introduce three bills to end over a century of federally-imposed monopolistic closed market domestic cargo shipping to and from my isolated home state of Hawai‘i and the other island and separated jurisdictions of our country not part of the contiguous 48 United States. In doing so, we seek to break the stranglehold on the peoples and economies of our exposed… Read more »

I rise today to reintroduce the Affordable Shipping for All Act, a bill to end discriminatory and exclusionary shipping practices faced by residents and businesses in the non-contiguous areas of our country, particularly Hawai‘i, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. This blatant discrimination and exclusion is… Read more »

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce two critically important pieces of legislation aimed at protecting our oceans and marine ecosystems from the potentially catastrophic consequences of deep-sea mining: the American Seabed Protection Act and the International Seabed Protection Act. These bills will place a moratorium on seabed mining until its full environmental, social and… Read more »

MAHALO! TO OUR HONORED GUESTS AND MY FELLOW ‘OHANA FROM OUR WONDERFUL HAWAII, GOOD EVENING AND WAN-AN. AND TO PRESIDENT LAI, A VERY WARM ALOHA AND HUAN-YING! MR PRESIDENT, WE ARE TRULY HONORED THAT YOU WOULD CHOOSE TO BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY THROUGH OUR PACIFIC FAMILY HERE IN HAWAII, WHERE WE ALSO ARE FROM AND OF THE INDO-PACIFIC. TONIGHT THE EVENING IS BEAUTIFUL, THE TRADE WINDS… Read more »

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Aloha and Mabuhay! I join my friend from Guam, Mr. Moylan, and many colleagues in strong support of H.Res 837, reaffirming our country’s enduring ties with the Republic of the Philippines. The strength of the U.S.-Philippines relationship endures on a foundation of shared heritage, history and values, from Filipinos being the first documented Asian ethnic… Read more »

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a critical and growing challenge that severely impacts our environment and has widespread ripple-effect consequences beyond: invasive species. This challenge threatens the delicate balance of our ecosystems, as invasive species can outcompete, prey on or introduce diseases to our native flora and fauna. The consequences of these… Read more »

Mr. Speaker, since 2019, and as the Member of Congress with the most Filipino Americans of any U.S. House district nationwide, I have been honored to co-lead an annual resolution recognizing October as Filipino American History Month. I have joined many colleagues in doing so in order to recognize and celebrate the great contributions of Filipino Americans to our country— in government… Read more »

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7159, the Pacific Partnership Act, which aims to broaden and deepen our critical partnerships with our fellow nations of the Pacific.   I want first to thank my co-lead, Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky, and our 22 bipartisan cosponsors. As well as our House Committee on Foreign Relations, which reported our bill… Read more »

U.S. – INDIA INDO-PACIFIC DIALOGUE Pacific Forum Hilton Garden Inn Kauai June 24 – 25, 2024     ALOHA! I’M U.S. CONGRESSMAN ED CASE   I TRULY REGRET THAT I JUST COULDN’T MAKE MY CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE WORK TO JOIN YOU PERSONALLY ON KAUA’I. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OPPORTUNITY NOT JUST TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS BUT ESPECIALLY TO LISTEN TO YOURS.   LET ME FIRST… Read more »

Mr. Chairman I rise toady in support for the Ranking Member's Amendment.  It is deeply frustrating to see in this critically important bill, one that must lay the foundation to enable the Department of Defense to compete with our pacing challenges, namely Russia and China, be out shadowed by partisan provisions injecting divisive issues into the bill. This partisanship detracts… Read more »