Telling men to ‘step up,’ Sen. Hirono strides into spotlight

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., left, is applauded by demonstrators as the arrive to speak to reporters in support of professor Christine Blasey Ford, who is accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of a decades-old sexual attack, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018.

Low-key senator steps into spotlight, tells men to ‘step up’

Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, one of only four women on the 21-member Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh the same questions on sexual harrassment she has asked dozens of other nominees. Had Kavanaugh "made unwanted requests for sexual favors" or committed verbal or physical harrassment of a sexual nature since he became a legal adult? And had he ever faced discipline or settled with anyone over that kind of conduct? Kavanaugh said "no" to both questions at his confirmation hearing earlier this month.