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Brian Schatz
Hawaii
Senator since 2012
2022 midterms
“Climate change is no longer a theoretical problem to be contended with some time in the future. It's here and it's costing companies money. That cost needs to be analyzed ”
Our media’s often simplistic method of situating political figures on a spectrum that runs from “unredeemably” far right, NRA-infiltrated, and inflexibly “born again” all the way to a hair’s breadth from — God forbid! — “Communist” (the expletive hurled by members of the Right at Bernie Sanders) places 48-year-old Hawaiian Senator Brian Schatz squarely in the “ progressive” category. A host of pronouncements attributed to him, mostly during the period 2015 to 2018, are thought to have earned him the right to such a label. Some of these appeared in an article he co-authored for Foreign Affairs in 2015,which called for reaching beyond military budgets to a new form of non-kinetic (informational, diplomatic, and economic) statecraft and casting human rights and gender equality as just as important as security issues. That article also cemented Shatz’s identity as an environmentalist by claiming climate change is one of the most significant challenges to national security.
Other public gestures during that period, which included advocating for a woman’s right to choose and for the expansion of Social Security, strengthened his credentials as a Progressive, as did his 2017 support of Bernie Sanders’s “single-payer” health bill, which conceived of a more generous version of Medicare to replace almost all private health insurance and increasing government control over insurance prices and medical fees. But despite these earlier, highly visible positions, Schatz’s crusader image would fade in the eyes of the public as he seemed to move further away from the Left. In fact, during the two most recent years of his senatorial career, he was ranked only 24th in Govtrack.us's list of the most politically left-wing U.S. Senators. This would characterize him almost squarely as a centrist, taking into account the fact that there are only 48 Democrats and two independents currently serving in the Senate.
Closer examination of Schatz’s career shows that while his reputation as a left-wing firebrand may have waned, he has, in many instances, worked behind the scenes to ensure the success of other members of his party and to promote the majority status of Democratic lawmakers for the post-Trump era. One method he used to accomplish this in 2019 involved rallying all presidential hopefuls around a less divisive credo, designed to avoid the “toxic debate” that had inflamed the party in 2016. He strove not only to become the sounding board for these potential candidates but even went so far as to offer them his own version of proposals relating to healthcare, climate change, and economic inequality.
Schatz became a member of the U.S. Senate as an incumbent in December 2012, when he was appointed to fill the seat of the late Senator Daniel Inouye by Hawaiian Governor Neil Abercrombie; but he had already entered the public eye as early 1998, when he joined the Hawaii House of Representatives as a member of the Green Party. After shedding that more marginalized identity to become a Democrat, he worked his way up the ranks to become Lieutenant Governor and then left the job to become a U.S. senator.
Schatz comes from a decidedly liberal background. His Canadian-born father, a cardiologist, played a significant role in his moral development and was even the first physician ever to write a letter of complaint about the morality of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment that the U.S. Public Health Service ran from 1932 to 1972, during which African-American subjects were left untreated for syphilis in an attempt to study the course of the disease. This taught Schatz how dangerous an unjust public health system could be and led to his interest in preparing a bill granting Medicaid to many more Americans — an idea that resembles the government-run “public option” that other Progressive Democrats have supported.
—Bruce Benderson
Bruce Benderson is an author, essayist, translator, and educator who grew up in Syracuse, New York and now lives between there and New York City. Benderson has written nine books including User, Pretending to Say No, Sex and Isolation, Pacific Agony, and the award-winning memoir The Romanian: Story of an Obsession.
Voting Record
Schatz knows his own mind, but is also adept at collaborating across the aisle. During the 116th Congress (January 3, 2019 to January 4, 2021), Schatz wrote the fewest laws of any Senate Democrat except one who was tied with him; neither did he individually introduce any bills. He did, however, co-sponsor 326 bills and resolutions introduced by other members of Congress. Twenty-five percent of those bills were introduced by a non-Democratic legislator. During that same session of Congress, Schatz voted against a majority of Senate Democrats 76 times; but thus far, for the 117th Congress, he has not voted against any Senate Democrats.
Of the several party-endorsed bills he refused to support, Schatz, who is pro-choice, voted against a bill designed to prohibit a doctor from performing an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless it is to save the life of the mother or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest.
Schatz was actively involved in the first major postal reform bill of the new Congress. Along with Senator Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana, he introduced the USPS Fairness Act, which would eliminate the Postal Service’s 2006 obligation to pre-fund retiree health benefits well into the future. The bill had passed the House in 2019, but had stalled in the Senate.
Schatz voted in favor of a bill that passed and was designed to prohibit U.S. military actions against Iranian targets unless Congress authorized the use of force. He voted against a bill that would renew provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which permits federal government investigators to collect business records and other information without a warrant during national security investigations.
Schatz voted against his party when he opposed a bill that passed and was called Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019. This bill authorized assistance and weapons transfers to Israel, facilitated defense cooperation with Jordan, added additional sanctions related to the conflict in Syria, and allowed U.S. states to divest from entities boycotting Israel.
Schatz also opposed his party by voting against the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, passed to provide statutory authority for the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada and meant to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nevertheless, the bill was passed into law.
In 2014, Schatz was one of the few Democrats to resist co-sponsoring the Menendez (D-NJ)-Kirk (R-IL) bill to impose additional sanctions on Iran, which he believed would undermine chances for a deal to stop Iran’s nuclear program.
With the intent to ease some of the economic strain produced by the Covid-19 crisis, Schatz voted for a bill mandating that even businesses with fewer than 500 employees must offer paid sick leave for two weeks, that federal unemployment insurance payments to the states be increased by $1 billion, and that more federal money be provided for food aid programs.
Policy Positions
Environment
In March 2014, Schatz was a lead organizer of an overnight talkathon devoted to climate change. Over two dozen Senate Democrats took part in it on the Senate floor. Schatz has also expressed his support for some form of a Green New Deal. Partly as a result, he has received a perfect score from the League of Conservation Voters. Schatz’s interest in climate change has been described by some as “obsessive.” At a confirmation hearing for James Bridenstine’s bid to become Administrator of NASA, Schatz aggressively pressured Bridenstine — who was a representative from Oklahoma, an oil-and- gas-industry state — to admit whether he believed humans were responsible for climate change by answering with the single word “yes” or “no,” much in the way a witness would be pressured on the stand in a court of law. Schatz leads in promoting the growth of clean energy and reducing the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels. He has been working on legislation that would succeed in putting a price on carbon pollution. He is also calling for the expanded use of hydropower and has spoken on several occasions of water’s role in fulfilling some of our energy needs.
Foreign Policy
Schatz has criticized China’s island-building activities and has attacked “China’s outsized claim to the entire South China Sea” as having “no basis in international law.” In 2017, Schatz condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to it on the part of the U.S. In 2018, Schatz led a resolution that essentially cautioned President Trump not to allow the Russian government to question diplomats or other officials. And in 2021, Schatz and a Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced new legislation to protect journalists and also to train foreign service officers with ways to promote media independence. “Freedom of the press is a priority in our founding documents, so it must be a cornerstone of our foreign policy,” he stated. Schatz is of Jewish background and has traveled to Israel on many occasions. He is a supporter of U.S. leadership toward a two-state solution. At the same time, he recently called for a more open discussion of issues involving Israel and pointed out that he is one of many who disagrees with Israeli policies but supports the country’s existence. These statements were made partly to express his concern about the ways an anti-Israel position sometimes becomes conflated with, or encourages, anti-Semitism.
Education
Schatz has repeatedly expressed the need to expand early childhood education, modernize our schools, and focus more intensely on science, technology, engineering, and math. He has also introduced a plan designed to create a debt-free college education for university students.
Healthcare
While supporting Bernie Sanders’s single-payer healthcare proposal, Schatz also introduced his own plan designed to allow states to expand Medicaid into a universal system. He has been clear that he would support Medicare For All, despite the fact that it is not totally in line with his own proposal. “If there’s ever a vote for single-payer, I’m a ‘yes,’” he told *Vox* in an interview. “But there are lots of things we can do in the meantime to make progress for tens of millions of Americans. And we should do those things.” During the last several years, he has sponsored legislation to expand telemedicine as a way of allowing people living in more remote areas to get medical care without having to visit a doctor. between the United States, Mexico, and Canada and meant to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nevertheless, the bill was passed into law. In 2014, Schatz was one of the few Democrats to resist co-sponsoring the Menendez (D-NJ)-Kirk (R-IL) bill to impose additional sanctions on Iran, which he believed would undermine chances for a deal to stop Iran’s nuclear program. With the intent to ease some of the economic strain produced by the Covid-19 crisis, Schatz voted for a bill mandating that even businesses with fewer than 500 employees must offer paid sick leave for two weeks, that federal unemployment insurance payments to the states be increased by $1 billion, and that more federal money be provided for food aid programs.
Endorsements
Sierra Club
:In 2014, the Sierra Club unanimously endorsed Schatz, citing his commitment to clean energy and environmental leadership. Sierra Club director Robert Harris stated, “Senator Schatz is exactly the kind of clean energy leader Hawaii and America need. His commitment to homegrown, clean energy is second to none. Based on his lengthy background in working to protect Hawaii’s environment, we are confident he is the best choice to protect Hawaii families’ health, air and water, and build a clean energy economy that works for our state.”
Adam Green, co-founder
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The Progressive Change Campaign CommitteeThis political advocacy group that strongly backed Schatz’s primary campaign, reacted to Schatz’s win with Green saying, “This is a huge victory for the populist Elizabeth Warren wing of American politics, and a big blow to the corporate wing.”
Human Rights Campaign
:Schatz was among those members of Congress endorsed in 2016 by HRC, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization. Speaking of Schatz and the others they had endorsed, HRC President Chad Griffin stated, “These members of Congress are standing with the bipartisan majority of Americans who believe that everyone, including LGBT people, should be able to have a fair chance to earn a living, provide for their families, and live free from fear of discrimination. HRC is proud to support them in their re-election campaigns.”
Council for a Livable World
:Schatz was favorably singled out with several other senatorial candidates in 2015 by the Council for a Livable World, which published a statement about him that read, “He took strongly progressive positions on national security issues. When the President was considering a response to Syrian use of chemical weapons, Schatz opposed a military strike.”
State: Hawaii
During the period in which Schatz was Chair of the Hawaii Democratic Party, and later while he served as Lieutenant Governor, he was an activist for bringing marriage equality to Hawaii. When the Supreme Court was considering the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that prevented same-sex marriage, Schatz, as senator, submitted an amicus brief to the Court defending marriage equality and urging them to strike down the law as unconstitutional.
From an early point, Schatz has been vocal about his belief in a woman’s right to choose and to easily obtain means of birth control. While a member of the Hawaii State Legislature, he promoted initiatives to increase access to contraceptives and provide better healthcare for low-income women and children.
Shortly after entering the U.S. Senate, under President Obama, Schatz co-sponsored legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, which broadened its protections to include Native Hawaiians and was eventually signed into law.
During his time in the Hawaii State Legislature, Schatz was instrumental in establishing a Renewable Energy Portfolio. This program allows electricity customers who own renewable energy resources to sell their unused energy back to the electric grid. While Lieutenant Governor, Schatz led the state’s Clean Energy Initiative, which eventually resulted in Hawaii’s Renewable Energy Portfolio becoming number one in the nation.
In Hawaii, Schatz, who is the father of two children, worked on legislation designed to expand early childhood education that would reach more low-income children. He is an advocate for convincing the federal government to do more to help states renovate poorly maintained school buildings and to institute programs to turn them into world-class learning environments.
Although he now serves in the U.S. Senate, Schatz remains committed to preserving and revitalizing the Hawaiian language and creating native language education programs. He has introduced legislation to promote Native Hawaiian homeownership, honor Native Hawaiian military veterans, and expand opportunities for Native Hawaiian small businesses. Schatz has stated unequivocally that he is determined to ensure federal support for Hawaii’s building of a transportation infrastructure that will grow the state’s economy and connect its communities.