Schatz, Brian, 1972-

SCHATZ, Brian Emanuel, a Senator from Hawaii; born in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Mich., October 20, 1972; attended Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii; B.A. Pomona College 1994; teacher; member of the Hawaii state house of representatives, 1998-2006; CEO, Helping Hands Hawaii, 2002-2010; chairman, Democratic Party of Hawaii, 2008-2011; Hawaii lieutenant governor, 2010-2012; appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate on December 26, 2012, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Daniel Inouye, and took the oath of office on December 27, 2012; subsequently elected in 2014 in a special election; reelected in 2016 for the term ending January 3, 2023; chair, Committee on Indian Affairs (One Hundred Seventeenth Congress).

<p><b>Brian Schatz is Hawai‘i's senior United States Senator.</b></p>

<p>Since joining the Senate, he has focused his work on helping workers, veterans, and families and has led key legislation on health care, climate change, and technology.</p>

<p>Senator Schatz chairs the Indian Affairs Committee, and serves on the Appropriations Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; the Foreign Relations Committee; and the Select Committee on Ethics. He also serves on the Senate Democratic Caucus's leadership team as Chief Deputy Whip.</p>

<p>Prior to his service in Congress, Senator Schatz was Hawai‘i’s Lieutenant Governor and served for eight years in the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives.</p>

<p>Brian Emanuel Schatz (/ʃɑːts/; born October 20, 1972) is an American educator and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. Governor Neil Abercrombie appointed Schatz to replace Senator Daniel Inouye after Inouye's death.</p>

<p>Schatz served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1998 to 2006, representing the 25th legislative district, and was chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii from 2008 to 2010. He also 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 Abercrombie's running mate. He served as lieutenant governor until December 26, 2012, when Abercrombie appointed him to serve the rest of Daniel Inouye's U.S. Senate term after Inouye's death. Schatz was the youngest U.S. Senator in the 112th Congress. He won the 2014 special election to complete the remainder of Inouye's Senate term, and was reelected in 2016 to a full six-year term, defeating Republican John Carroll.</p>

<p>Brian Schatz was born into a Jewish-American family in Ann Arbor, Michigan, along with an identical twin brother, Steve. He is the son of Barbara Jane (née Binder) and Irwin Jacob Schatz, a cardiologist and native of Saint Boniface, Manitoba.</p>