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Biography

Congresswoman Mazie Hirono champions education, renewable energy, and environmental protection issues. First elected to Congress in 2006, she is now serving her second term representing Hawai‘i’s 2nd Congressional District. Hirono’s district includes rural O‘ahu and the Neighbor Islands. During the Congresswoman’s first term, she earned positions on key U.S. House Committees that highlight her legislative priorities: the Committee on Education and Labor, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Recognized for her leadership in advancing quality early education for America’s children, the national preschool advocacy organization, Pre-K Now, named Hirono its 2008 “Pre-K Champion” for her work and determination in passing the PRE-K Act (H.R. 3289) out of the Committee on Education and Labor on June 25, 2008.

Born in Fukushima, Japan on November 3, 1947, Hirono moved with her mom and brother to Hawai'i when she was almost 8 years old. Hirono became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1959, the year Hawai‘i became a state. She is the first immigrant woman of Asian ancestry to be sworn in to Congressional office.

Educated in Hawai'i's public school system, Hirono graduated with honors from Kaimuki High School and with a Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. She then earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where she focused on public interest law.

After graduation, she returned to Hawai'i where she served as a Deputy Attorney General before entering private practice. In 1980, the people of Moili‘ili and McCully elected Hirono to the Hawai'i State House of Representatives.

In 1994, the people of Hawai'i elected her as the state's 9th Lieutenant Governor, a position she held for two terms.

Congresswoman Hirono is married to Leighton Kim Oshima.

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