Sen. Brian Schatz is not technically the newest of senators. Vice President Joe Biden swore him into the 112th Congress on Dec. 27, filling the seat of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, who served as Hawaii’s senator for 50 years.
Senator Schatz cast several important votes in his first week on the job: He supported the fiscal cliff deal and voted for a disaster aid package, which would have provided $60.4 billion for damage caused by hurricane Sandy.
Now as Hawaii’s senior senator, by one week, Schatz will turn his attention to securing federal funding for the Aloha state and fighting global warming. He has been assigned to the Commerce, Energy, and Indian Affairs committees.
“Over the next year, one of Hawaii's critical priorities is to identify the various federal funding streams that have been coming to Hawaii and stabilize them to the extent possible,” Schatz said at press conference.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Schatz, his lieutenant governor, to the seat. Schatz will serve until 2014 when the state will have a special election. He plans to run then and again in 2016, when the original term ends, according to The Associated Press.
Governor Abercrombie and Schatz won the 2010 gubernatorial election. As lieutenant governor, Schatz launched the Fair Share Initiative – an effort to attract more private and public investment in the state.
From 1998 to 2006, Schatz was a member of the state House of Representatives, serving as House majority whip, chair of the Economic Development Committee, vice-chair of Water, Land, and Ocean Resources, and vice-chair of Consumer Protection and Commerce. From 2002 to 2010, Schatz was chief executive officer of Helping Hands Hawaii, a community social service organization.
Whether Schatz will work across the aisle in the Senate is yet to be seen. David Chang, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party, has his doubts.
“He had a reputation for being quite partisan while serving in the House, and even as lieutenant governor,” Mr. Chang told PBS NewsHour. “And in Hawaii, it's very easy to only work with Democrats and not have to do anything with Republicans since we are the minority party.”
One thing is certain though: Schatz will be a big supporter of the president’s agenda. He served as the Obama Campaign chairman in 2008, and they attended the same high school (though at different times).
“I’ve been a supporter of his from the very beginning,” Schatz told reporters while traveling to Washington on Air Force One.
