Political Quotes

“I want to share an update about what is happening with the Kilauea volcano in my home State of Hawaii. The first thing people need to know is that the State of Hawaii remains safe to visit and that the Island of Hawaii, where the volcano is erupting, is also safe to visit. Let's start with a basic geography lesson. Hawaii has eight main islands, and the volcano is on the Island of Hawaii, which people often call the Big Island. It is about 4,000 square miles. This is Hawaii Island. It is about the size of Connecticut. Only 9 square miles are directly impacted by the volcano. So it is actually just this little area in this corner of the island. If you are in the town of Hilo, which is 25 miles away from the volcano, you can't even tell there is a volcano erupting for the most part. Cruise lines are coming back, and officials are trying to set up areas where people can safely view this spectacular volcano. It is that safe. People need to know that it is business as usual for lots of people on the Big Island and that both the State and the island are open for visitors. We just got the data in for the month of May, and we had again increased tourism statewide. Everyone should come to visit. With that being said, this is an extraordinarily difficult situation for the communities that are being affected, and even though people are used to living with volcanos, this is extraordinarily tough. Right here, we have fissure 8.…”