Honolulu Reporter

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1) was given the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s prestigious 2023 Leadership Award during a recent 600-person gala in Washington, DC which wrapped up the annual Capitol Hill Ocean Week bringing together advocates for the world’s oceans.

The Foundation honors one or two political leaders per year who demonstrate a commitment to ocean, coastal and Great Lakes stewardship. Previous awardees include President Clinton, President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, and U.S. Senators Ted Stevens (Alaska) and Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island).

“While I was truly honored to have received this award, it is just a moment in time when compared to the critical threats that face our oceans across a number of fronts,” said Case. “I am mostly just grateful to be part of a community of true passion who cares so deeply for our oceans and are so personally committed to saving them from what has become their worst enemy: humankind.”

The Foundation recognized Case as a longtime leader in ocean policy in Congress. Case was an early advocate for and was instrumental in the designation of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in 2006 and current efforts to expand protections for the Pacific Remote Islands.

Case, a member of the House Appropriations and Natural Resources Committees since his return to Congress in 2019, also co-led reauthorization of the Coral Reef Conservation Program and continues to fight for ocean-based climate solutions, sustainable climate ready fisheries management, and international cooperation and coordination in saving our world’s oceans.

Case shared the 2023 Leadership Award with his colleague, Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona. The Foundation said that he has been a leading voice on environmental and social justice issues since being elected Congress more than two decades ago. In 2018, he became Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, a role in which he successfully elevated climate action, environmental justice and indigenous affairs in national ocean policy.

Two fellow Hawai’i residents - Solomon (Sol) Pili Kahoʻohalahala  and William J. Ailā – received the Foundation’s Sanctuary Wavemaker Award for their critical work benefiting national marine sanctuaries.

Kahoʻohalahala, who served with Case in the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives, serves as Chairperson of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. He is the current native Hawaiian member on the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument community group and a member of the Pacific Remote Islands Coalition. During the Obama Administration, he advocated successfully for the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, creating the world’s largest marine protected area, and currently serves as its native Hawaiian elder on the reserve advisory council. 

Aila, who has served Hawai’i in various capacities including Chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the Hawaiian Homes Commission, has been deeply committed to protecting areas that have deep cultural importance as well as significant natural resource value. He expanded Hawaii’s Natural Area Reserve program, streamlined permitting for restoration of Hawaiian fishponds and helped create the first community-based subsistence fishing area in Haena, Kauai. He was also instrumental in the creation and expansion of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and was the former chair of the Papahānaumokuākea Reserve Advisory Council. 

Original source can be found here.