49 Facts About Brian Schatz

Brian Emanuel Schatz is an American educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012.

Brian Schatz worked as chief executive officer of Helping Hands Hawaii, an Oahu nonprofit social service agency, until he resigned to run for lieutenant governor of Hawaii in the 2010 gubernatorial election as Neil Abercrombie's running mate.

Brian Schatz served as lieutenant governor until December 26,2012, when Abercrombie appointed him to serve the rest of Daniel Inouye's US Senate term after Inouye's death.

Brian Schatz was the youngest US senator in the 112th Congress.

Brian Schatz was born into a Jewish-American family in Ann Arbor, Michigan, along with an identical twin brother, Steve.

Brian Schatz is the son of Barbara Jane and Irwin Jacob Schatz, a cardiologist and native of Saint Boniface, Manitoba.

Brian Schatz's father was the first to complain about the ethics of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, in a 1965 letter.

Brian Schatz enrolled at Pomona College in Claremont, California; he spent a term studying abroad in Kenya on a program of the School for International Training.

Brian Schatz was briefly a member of the Green Party.

Brian Schatz became active in the community in the 1980s through his involvement in Youth for Environmental Services.

Brian Schatz then served as CEO of Helping Hands Hawaii and director of the Makiki Community Library and of the Center for a Sustainable Future.

In March 2010, Brian Schatz stepped down from Helping Hands to run for lieutenant governor.

Brian Schatz was a member of the 2007 class of the Pacific Century Fellows.

Brian Schatz ran for, vacated by Ed Case, who had decided to run for the US Senate against incumbent Daniel Akaka.

Brian Schatz raised the most money, mostly because of the endorsement of EMILY's List, and lent her own campaign $100,000.

Brian Schatz wants to govern the United States by hope.

Brian Schatz stepped down as party chairman on January 9,2010.

On January 10,2010, Brian Schatz announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor of Hawaii.

Brian Schatz declared his support for Hawaii House Bill 444, which would have allowed same-sex civil unions in Hawaii but was vetoed by Republican Governor Linda Lingle.

On December 6,2010, Brian Schatz was inaugurated as Hawaii's 11th lieutenant governor alongside Abercrombie, who had defeated Republican incumbent Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona in the gubernatorial election.

Later that night, Brian Schatz accompanied President Barack Obama back to Washington, DC on Air Force One.

Brian Schatz became only the sixth person to represent Hawaii in the US Senate, and only the second who was not Asian American, after Oren E Long.

Brian Schatz announced his intention to run for election in the special election to be held in 2014 for the balance of Inouye's ninth term.

The core of the Brian Schatz campaign was climate change and renewable energy.

Brian Schatz defeated Hanabusa by 1,782 votes in a primary delayed in two precincts by Hurricane Iselle.

In 2016, Brian Schatz ran for and easily won his first full six-year Senate term against only nominal opposition.

Brian Schatz announced he intended to run for reelection for a second full term.

Brian Schatz was challenged by Republican state representative Bob McDermott.

Brian Schatz tends to vote with his party on both policy and procedural issues most of the time.

Brian Schatz has been a part of numerous pieces of bipartisan legislation.

Brian Schatz has co-sponsored 48 bills that have become law, including the bipartisan Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2021 and the John D Dingell, Jr.

Brian Schatz has been the primary sponsor for seven bills, including the Native American Veterans' Memorial Amendments Act of 2013 and the NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act.

Brian Schatz was instrumental in increasing the minimum smoking age to 21 and securing paid family leave for federal workers.

Brian Schatz has brought a large amount of federal funding to Hawaii.

Brian Schatz was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol.

Brian Schatz sponsored legislation in 2015 to allow married gay couples to have equal access to the veterans benefits and Social Security they have earned.

In March 2014, Brian Schatz was a lead organizer of an overnight talkathon devoted to discussing climate change.

Brian Schatz has received a perfect score from the League of Conservation Voters.

In 2019, Brian Schatz voiced his support for both a Green New Deal and a carbon tax as means to reduce emissions, saying that the two proposals are "perfectly compatible" with each other.

Brian Schatz believes that climate change is a threat and has supported clean energy initiatives.

In October 2017, Brian Schatz condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis.

Brian Schatz spearheaded a nonbinding resolution in July 2018 "warning President Trump not to let the Russian government question diplomats and other officials".

Brian Schatz voted for a 2013 bill banning high-capacity magazines of over 10 bullets, and co-sponsored legislation requiring background checks for every firearm sale in 2019.

Brian Schatz participated in the Chris Murphy gun control filibuster in 2016.

Brian Schatz expressed disappointment when both the Democrat-proposed Feinstein Amendment and the Republican-supported background check changes and gun sale alert system did not pass the Senate.

In one of his first Senate votes, Brian Schatz voted against the FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012.

Brian Schatz voted for the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, a bill many civil liberties groups opposed.

Brian Schatz has three brothers, including an identical twin brother, Steve.

Brian Schatz formerly ran the Hawaii Department of Education's Office of Strategic Reform.