U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz discusses pending federal legislation

LIHUE — Federal legislation that is expected to pass Congress and take effect next year could have a major impact on many Kauai residents.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz spoke with The Garden Island Tuesday afternoon about two bills he worked to push through Congress this year, one geared at improving the emergency alert system and another that will provide paid parental leave for all federal employees.

Emergency alert system

Schatz began working on legislation that would change the way emergency alerts are issued to the public in the wake of a fake missile threat that left Hawaii residents in a panic last year.

The false alert came in the early morning hours of Jan. 13, 2018, when a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee accidentally sent a message to cellphones across the state, warning of an incoming ballistic missile attack, according to a spokesperson for the agency, who said the error occurred during a shift-change drill.

The mistake was compounded by the fact that 38 minutes elapsed before state officials were able to revoke the emergency alert message. The debacle prompted public outcry, a lawsuit from a man claiming the missile alert caused his heart attack, an investigation that revealed the Federal Emergency Management Agency played a limited role in the public alert and warning process.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General issued the report last year, describing ways in which federal oversight and mandatory training could improve the emergency alert system and prevent similar mistakes in the future, something Schatz and his colleagues in the Senate were already working on.

Schatz said he began writing legislation to turn over responsibility for issuing missile alerts to federal administrators in the aftermath of the fake missile warning. A month later, he introduced the Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (ALERT) Act, along with coauthors and sponsors from Senators on both sides of the aisle.

Now, two years later, the bill is poised to become law. Schatz’s office issued a press release Tuesday announcing the ALERT Act has been included in the National Defense Authorization Act, annual “must-pass” legislation that sets policy for the Department of Defense.

“These alerts save lives, so we have to get it right,” Schatz said in a statement. “The federal government is always the first to know of a missile threat, and they should be responsible for telling the rest of us.”

Parental leave for federal workers

The National Defense Authorization Act also includes a provision originally authored by Schatz that will provide two million federal workers with 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child after birth, adoption, or the initiation of foster care.

“The basic idea is straightforward,” Schatz said. “Nobody should have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a newborn child.”

There are hundreds of federal employees on Kauai, working as airport screeners, air traffic controllers, food inspectors, wildlife refuge administrators, and members of the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy, all of whom will all be eligible for paid time off when they have a baby, something Schatz hopes will set a precedent for the country in years to come.

“This is the wave of the future,” he said, explaining his belief that private business will eventually follow suit, reforming the way family medical leave is handled in the United States. According to Schatz, the bill originally provided paid leave for bereavement as well as time off to care for ailing family members, stipulations he said the bill’s supporters were forced to abandon during the negotiation process.

Schatz said the bill faced opposition from Republican senators, some of whom objected to family leave for federal workers and others who simply felt that a measure establishing national defense policy was not the appropriate vehicle for this type of legislation.

“We just didn’t back down,” he said. “This was a top Democratic priority, and we stuck to our guns.”

Impeachment proceedings

Schatz said he was particularly proud of the bipartisan support both bills garnered, especially considering the current political climate.

“It’s never been so heated, and it’s never been so partisan,” he said, describing the atmosphere on Capitol Hill, as he and other members of Congress work to pass laws in the midst of presidential impeachment hearings.

Schatz described the articles of impeachment and the House Intelligence Committee’s inquiry report as “compelling” and said he has been checking in on impeachment proceedings between appointments.

Schatz said he recently started brushing up on the Senate’s role in impeachment in preparation for the next phase of proceedings, which are expected to start next month.