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Editorials
Friday, December 15, 2000Hawaiian bill
will be back in
next CongressThe issue: The Hawaiian recognition bill has died in the Senate.
ONE lamentable casualty of the protracted battle over the Florida election returns was the Hawaiian autonomy legislation before Congress. Hawaii's Senators Akaka and Inouye are resigned to its death in the current session but vow to reintroduce the measure next year.
The proposal was rushed into legislative form primarily because of the Rice vs. Cayetano decision of the U.S. Supreme Court last February, which nullified the Hawaiians-only voting restriction for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
It was felt this lent urgency to the effort to obtain federal recognition of Hawaiians' desire for some form of self-government such as that practiced by American Indian tribes, especially because President Clinton, who was expected to sign the bill into law if it passed, would soon leave office.
Akaka was the chief sponsor of measure, which would have established a process to allow Hawaiians to set up their own government within the state of Hawaii. He said the presidential election dispute, delayed spending bills and attempts to adjust to the 50-50 split in the next Senate left "precious little time" for the Senate to act on the Hawaiian recognition bill and other important issues.
From the outset, passage in this session was a long shot because of the pressure of time. Akaka and Inouye, and in the lower house Rep. Neil Abercrombie -- with Rep. Patsy Mink taking a hands-off position -- resorted to extraordinary tactics in their attempts to win passage.
Abercrombie almost single-handedly succeeded in winning approval by the House last September. However, in the Senate, a handful of conservatives raised objections and prevented unanimous passage. The conservatives also blocked any attempt to attach the measure to one of the spending bills.
This failure should not be taken as fatal. The bill will be revived next year and its chances of adoption should not be discounted, even though the Republicans narrowly maintained control of Congress. Nor should it be assumed that George W. Bush would veto the measure if it came to his desk. Bush's controversial victory may make the president-elect more prone to compromise with liberals on such issues.
Hawaii's congressional delegation, though small, has much seniority and influence far beyond its numbers. Inouye, one of the most highly respected members of Congress, is a former chairman and currently senior Democrat on the Indian Affairs Committee, which might handle this bill.
Some form of limited sovereignty appears to be the most realistic approach to satisfy Hawaiian aspirations for self-government. Full sovereignty for a Hawaiian nation, advocated by some, is a fantasy that can only impede progress toward this achievable goal.
If Hawaiians and sympathetic non-Hawaiians unite behind the Akaka bill, it may pass. Unfortunately, a consensus among Hawaiian has yet to be achieved.
Chernobyl
plant closed
FOURTEEN years after the world's worst nuclear accident, the government of Ukraine has closed the Chernobyl power plant. But Ukraine is not abandoning nuclear energy.
President Leonid Kuchma issued the shutdown command today from Kiev, 80 miles away, through a television link with the plant, despite protests by workers who are losing their jobs.
On April 26, 1986, the plant's reactor No. 4 exploded and caught fire, contaminating large areas in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. At least 31 plant workers and more than 4,000 people who took part in the cleanup effort died; 70,000 were disabled by radiation. About 3.4 million of Ukraine's 50 million people, including some 1.26 million children, were affected.
Nevertheless the government kept the undamaged nuclear reactors at the plant operating because Ukraine needed the power they generated. In recent years all but one reactor was shut down, however. During a visit by President Clinton this year, Kuchma promised to close the plant.
Last week the European Commission approved a $585 million loan to help Ukraine build two new reactors to replace the power generated by Chernobyl.
The Chernobyl accident appeared to have been due to operator error. The accident took place during testing. The operators had intentionally deactivated several safety systems in order to simplify their tests. The normal safety systems failed to respond when the water around some of the fuel rods flashed to steam, resulting in overheating.
In contrast with nuclear plants in other countries, Soviet-era plants like Chernobyl were designed with only limited containment systems to prevent the release of large amounts of radioactivity. It was this design error that turned an accident into a disaster of massive proportions.
In the worst previous nuclear accident, in 1979 at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the plant's massive containment vessel prevented the release of radioactivity.
Even after the shutdown, Chernobyl won't be considered safe until all nuclear fuel is removed from its reactors, which will take years.
Defending his decision, Kuchma said, "Chernobyl stands as a negative symbol that should have no place upon the Earth."
But that doesn't mean nuclear power must be abandoned. No comparable nuclear disaster has occurred since Chernobyl. Hundreds of nuclear plants are operating safely in dozens of countries. The new ones -- including those in Ukraine -- will be even safer.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
