“My friend Patsy Mink was a champion for social and economic justice, equality an…” — Mazie Hirono

As I walk to my office every morning, I know I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me.

Women are problem solvers, and often we don't get much credit for that because the typical image of a leader is someone who's loud, obnoxious, chest-pounding. That's not my vision of what true leadership is; true leaders are the ones who work with great commitment to get something done.

Protecting Medicare and Social Security, health care, workers' rights, and a woman's right to choose remain top priorities for me.

I am fighting kidney cancer. And I'm just so grateful that I had health insurance so that I could concentrate on the care that I needed rather than how the heck I was going to afford the care that was going to probably save my life.