Press Releases

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, voted in Committee last night against the proposed $79 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.   

This measure funds (or should fund) the U.S. Department of Commerce, including the International Trade Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology; the U.S. Department of Justice; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); the National Science Foundation (NSF) and more.  

“As with prior appropriations bills this year, there were several aspects of the bill that I requested and were included and that I otherwise supported,” said Case.

“But the sum total of the bill as proposed by my majority colleagues would reduce key support for state and local law enforcement when that support is key, reduce support for our minority-owned businesses which are the majority of businesses in Hawaiʻi, undercut gun and domestic violence prevention, cripple our world-leading scientific research and development, undermine legal assistance for those who cannot afford representation, and otherwise continue an overall effort to reduce if not eliminate the necessary role of federal funding of initiatives that matter to real people in their everyday lives.”  

In Committee, Case also secured a direction to the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to produce its agreements with other federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for use by those other agencies of BOP facilities such as the Federal Detention Center (FDC)-Honolulu. The amendment was prompted by BOP’s refusal to provide to Case its agreement with ICE and details on ICE’s use of FDC-Honolulu and other facilities for ICE detainee needs.

Case remarked that a request by a Member of Congress for such information was a normal part of legislative, funding and oversight duties and any refusal to produce such information was not acceptable. His amendment was adopted, and his remarks in Committee (including support for funding of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), especially given Hawaii’s recent tsunami and hurricane close calls) are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7mFWp4FpWc  

Through his assignment on the Committee, Case also secured the following five Member-designated Community Project Funding (CPF) projects that specifically focused on local needs in Hawai‘i: 

·       $1 million for the Hawai‘i Division of Aquatic Resources to survey and remove invasive coral spread at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.  

·       $1,031,000 for the University of Hawai‘i for its Fireshed Partnerships program, which would facilitate wildfire risk reduction.  

·       $1,031,000 for the Hawai‘i Division of Aquatic Resources to restore fishpond habitat and enhance water quality at Maunalua Fishpond.  

·       $1,031,000 for Hawai‘i Pacific University to develop its Aquaculture Program, improving the workforce pipeline and bolstering the aquaculture industry in Hawaiʻi.  

·       $1 million for the Honolulu Police Department to do acquire a new Emergency Mobile Command Vehicle to replace its current vehicle which is over 20 years old.  

The House’s CPF rules require that each project must have demonstrated community support, must be fully disclosed by the requesting Member and must be subject to audit by the independent Government Accountability Office. Case’s disclosures are here: https://case.house.gov/services/funding-disclosures.htm.

Provisions with Case requested and which were provided in the measure include:

·                $397 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (Byrne-JAG). Byrne-JAG is the leading federal source of criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions.

The funds can be used to support a range of program areas including law enforcement; prosecution and court; prevention and education; corrections and community corrections; drug treatment and enforcement; planning, evaluation and technology improvement; and crime victim and witness initiatives.  

·                $654 million for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The COPS program is designed to provide funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire additional career law enforcement officers to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.  

·                $52 million for grants to reduce the sexual assault kit backlog.  

·                $51 million for the Anti-Methamphetamine and Anti-Heroin Task Forces.  

·                $250 million for the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, which enhances the research competitiveness of Hawai‘i by strengthening STEM capacity and capability.  

·                $89 million for the Climate Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes program to support the maintenance and needed repairs at the Atmospheric Baseline Observatories, including the Mauna Loa Observatory where the famous Keeling Curve proving rapid climate change was developed.  

·                $84 million for STEM Engagement Programs at NASA. including Space Grant, to inspire young people to pursue future careers in science and engineering.  

·                $7.6 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop wildland-urban interface risk metrics to mitigate wildfire risk to communities.  

·                $33 million for the Coral Reef Conservation Program.  

·                $67 million for Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas, which supports Papahānaumokuākea and our Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale sanctuaries.  

·                $68 million for Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles Protection, which safeguards our Hawaiian monk seals, dolphins, false killer whales and green sea turtles.  

·                $56 million for the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), which supports our Hawaii’s Pacific Island (Pac) IOOS. PacIOOS provides easily accessible coastal and ocean observing and forecasting to increase ocean safety and protect public and environmental health.  

·                $33.3 million for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, which includes support for our Heʻeia fishpond.  

·                $80 million for the Sea Grant Program, which supports the Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Program at the University of Hawaiʻi that promotes healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, resilient communities and economies and environmental literacy and workforce development.   

·                $175 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. This public-private partnership has centers in all 50 states, including Hawaiʻi, dedicated to serving small and medium-sized manufacturers.  

·                $4 million the Minority Business Development Agency specifically for Native American Business Development Program that awards grants to Tribes and American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian populations to address barriers to economic development, and another $5 million for grants to American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian entities qualified to provide business, financing and technical assistance.   

·                $3.5M for the Assistant Secretary of Travel and Tourism position, which Case worked to establish in the Visit America Act to drive a cohesive federal response to the challenges facing the industry.

·                $20 million for the Climate Adaptation Partnership Program, which provides vital research that allows communities to prepare for and respond to long-term shifts in weather patterns, resource availability and coastal conditions.

A summary of the bill is available here.  

This is the last of twelve separate bills developed and approved by the Appropriations Committee that would fund the federal government at some $1.6 trillion for FY 2026 commencing October 1^st of this year. The bill now moves on to the full House of Representatives for its consideration.

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