U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda is coming off a busy week in Congress and has a busy schedule working here at home. Tokuda sits on the committees on Agriculture and Armed Services, which just concluded back-to-back marathon sessions. High up on the list was the Farm Bill, which Tokuda voted “no” on.
Interview Highlights
On why she voted "no" on the latest Farm Bill draft in the Republican-controlled House committee
JILL TOKUDA: What I was most pleased about with the draft that came out, and we're talking about a 900-plus-page draft, is that there were many priorities I had been pushing since coming to Congress. It was really important for me from day one in the committee to make sure that as small as Hawaiʻi is, as unique and specialized as Hawaiʻi crops are in agriculture is that we had a seat at the table. And I do think that that was reflected in the draft, that being a part of the committee, having conversations, bringing Hawaiʻi folks to meet GT Thompson, the chair of the Ag Committee, talking with various subcommittee chairs, we were able to have that reflected. Now, was it perfect? No, I mean, as everything usually is at this particular stage of the game. And there were definite, unfortunate partisan divides in the Farm Bill that really pushed most of us on the Democratic side to vote against the bill. We were not about to take billions of dollars of food money out of, you know, the hands of hungry children and kūpuna and people and families across the country. And so, you know, sadly, you know, there were "no" votes on our side, for sure, myself included. But what I am very proud of is the fact that now going into negotiations, we've got a strong position in terms of Hawaiʻi ag, making sure that when we talk about food money for our neighbor island communities. One thing I've been fighting very strongly for is that it's not based on Oʻahu calculations, it's based on rural calculations. I've been fighting for parity with Alaska that has two rural categories, which I think we should as well, given that even for the neighbor islands, you cannot say that food access and costs are the same on Molokaʻi or Lānaʻi as it is in Kahului or even Hilo or Kona, right. And so really making sure that when we talk about ability for people to feed themselves, that it reflects the true cost and access. It seems so basic and yet, it has been in law for decades that we base our food calculation on Honolulu, which I think is absolutely unfair, it's what I've been pushing for. The committee actually cited it in a number of its press releases prior to the release that it was about making this fair. Again, very proud that that's right there on the table as a result of my direct advocacy.
On special hearings about Dr. Anthony Fauci and the pandemic
TOKUDA: The third committee that folks often don't ask me about that I serve on is the special Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. And we've had a number of contentious hearings over the past few weeks leading up to this particular point for the Republican majority. This has been the pinnacle of the committee to them, right, is how do we bring Fauci forward and blame him for everything from how COVID happened to the response — you know, for the Democratic minority, it's always been about how do we make sure we learn from what we experienced in the COVID pandemic. How do we ask tough questions, yes, but truly focused on getting it right the next time this happens. I think it's foolish on our parts if we don't learn from what we experienced over the last few years with the COVID pandemic. And we know, sadly, that whether it's avian flu or more virulent strains of COVID, there will be something in the future. And the question is, how do we best prepare our public health infrastructure, especially for a state like Hawaiʻi, where we really do need to stand on our own and make sure that we have that infrastructure for all the people in our state, on every single island. We cannot truck help in, you know, we can't expect it to arrive the next day or that day. I remember with the wildfires, the police chief saying, you know, we are 72 hours away from help, so how do we make sure we're able to take care of ourselves — it's true in a wildfire, it's true in a pandemic. And so for myself, the question has always been forward-looking, how are we going to better prepare now, before, you know, it hits.
On federally subsidized air service for Lānaʻi and the Alaska-Hawaiian merger
TOKUDA: You talk about essential air service as it's called, right, EAS, which everyone's talking about for Lānaʻi. But it's absolutely essential, it's a lifeline. The ability for people to get medical care, in many cases, urgent medical care, the ability to do business, connect with family, have educational opportunities, they rely on air transportation, and it's been a real hardship. And it's been unacceptable to me, the current state. And so one of the things as you may recall from conversations we had about my visit to Molokaʻi, just it seems like a few weeks ago, but maybe about a month or so ago, when Alaska first called and told me, "Hey, we are looking at, you know, this merger with Hawaiian," I said to them, you need to come with me to Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi, you know, let's not, you know, if I had my magic wand and could waive it, they would be able to do service directly to those islands. But that being said, you need to understand the hardship, you need to understand the unacceptable situation they live with every day — the ability to access basic health care, see loved ones, go to funerals — and be part of a solution. We need more allies at the table giving us solutions to how people can get to and from Lānaʻi, to and from Molokaʻi. And so true to their word, Alaska is coming. And they're doing a talk-story with community because it's so important that they understand that behind all of the, you know, the turmoil that's existed with, you know, neighbor island transportation, in particular for Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi, there are real faces, real people — there's real stories that will just break your heart when you listen to them. And I need them to hear that. And I need them to double down and commit on being a partner on how we're going to find some kind of solution — and solutions, if you will, to making sure people have the air transportation they need.
Tokuda represents Hawaiʻi's 2nd Congressional District covering non-urban Oʻahu and all the neighbor islands. She was sworn into office in January 2023.
This interview aired on The Conversation on May 29, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
