. AAloha, Friend!
For this quarter’s Neighborhood Board Report, I want first to congratulate you on gaining the trust and confidence of your community in electing you to your Neighborhood Board for the 2021-2023 term. In this difficult time when we all are still struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic, I am grateful that you and your Boards are my full partners in assisting our mutual constituents.
Here is my quarterly report to you, covering some of my current activities and concerns.
Appropriations. As I write up this report on June 30th, my work on my U.S. House Appropriations Committee, responsible for all federal discretionary spending, is at full speed as we review federal spending for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022, along with the President’s proposal to repair, maintain and expand our nation’s infrastructure. These and other proposed spending measures come on the heels of the almost $5 trillion in emergency pandemic assistance Congress has approved over the past difficult year-plus.
Information. Staying in touch with you and our Boards and mutual constituents has always been a high priority with me. One way to do so is through my various platforms as I share my activities both in Washington, DC and back home and ask for your questions and input.
These include my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RepEdCase/, my Twitter page at Rep. Ed Case (@RepEdCase) / Twitter, my Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/repedcase/, along with my monthly “Congressman Ed Case Reports to Hawai‘i” videos during my regular broadcast slots on ‘Ōlelo ch. 49 every third Sunday at 6 PM and again the following Tuesday at 10 AM. Each show is also featured on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/RepEdCase .
Vaccinations. Quick, safe, widespread vaccination remains the single most effective action we can take individually and collectively to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our communities and emerge from the pandemic. But although vaccines are widely available and free, we are lagging on getting to the minimum 70% vaccination goal the President and Governor have set.
We must do better, and with your help we can especially reach and help our less-connected community members with information and availability. Here are some resources I have come up with:
Congressional App Challenge. I will again be hosting the annual Congressional App Challenge, which calls on students in middle and high schools in my Congressional District (Urban Honolulu) to develop, test and analyze new applications for real world use. I have sponsored this event in past years, and I have seen for myself the real talents of students with the skill sets, imagination and resolve to compete against the best of their fellow students nationwide.
Registration is open. For more information on the competition, go to the web site at https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/ or call my office in Honolulu at 650-6688.
Go For Broke. Recently, on the floor of the U.S. House, I paid tribute to our Japanese American World War II soldiers. The occasion was for the launch of the beautiful and inspiring new “Go For Broke” stamp issued earlier this month by the United States Postal Service.
The stamp depicts the picture of Shiroku “Whitey” Yamamoto, a young man who hailed from the Nīnole on the Island of Hawai‘i who volunteered to serve in the 442nd. This Forever stamp will help perpetuate the remarkable legacy of the Nisei in WWII, who not only fought the enemy overseas, but had to persevere through discrimination and racism back home. See my speech on the House floor on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUG-hKM0o5c. You can also read the President’s statement on the stamp at President Joe Biden’s Stamp Statement – Stamp Our Story (niseistamp.org)
As always, I welcome your questions, comments guidance and partnerships as we all get through this difficult time for our Hawai‘i and country.
Best wishes and be well. P.S. Please sign up for my regular e-newsletter at E- Newsletter Sign-Up U.S. House of Representatives. | 
