Inouye: Gov key WASHINGTON >> Hawaii's Republican governor holds the fate of a bill to grant native Hawaiians federal recognition as an indigenous people, says U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, the state's most powerful Democrat.
to Akaka bill
The senator says Lingle will be
Some sovereignty groups say
instrumental in getting
the Hawaiian rights bill approved
Native Hawaiians will not benefit
By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.comGov. Linda Lingle wraps up a week of intense lobbying for the so-called Akaka bill today with an appearance before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
In an interview yesterday, Inouye said Lingle's lobbying of a Republican-controlled White House and Congress will be key to getting the bill passed.
"Maybe I am expecting too much from the governor, but I think she will do the job," said Inouye, who supported Lingle's opponent, former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, in last year's gubernatorial race. "That may be strange coming from me, but it is a worthy cause and it is a just cause; it is not phony."
If the Bush administration signals its approval for the bill, then it is likely that the GOP majority in the Senate, where the bill stalled last year, will go along.
"If Gov. Lingle can do it, more power to her," Inouye said.
Lingle said the task is difficult because few members of Congress or the administration have been concerned with the issue.
"It is a big responsibility, but I am going to do everything I can because I believe in this strongly," Lingle said. "I don't think it is going to be easy, but I am more optimistic than when I came here."
The Akaka bill recognizes, among other things, the right of native Hawaiians to adopt governing documents through the organization and election of a native Hawaiian government. Once certified by the U.S. secretary of the interior, the native government would be extended federal recognition under the proposed law.
RICHARD BORRECA / RBORRECA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Gov. Lingle Lingle, flanked by her Hawaiian Home Lands Department director, Macah Kane, testified this morning before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Some native Hawaiians see federal recognition as a way to address the legal challenges of alleged race discrimination being brought against Hawaiian agencies such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Opponents of the bill have argued, in part, that the bill is constitutionally flawed and promotes the social segregation of American citizens.
Because the measure once passed the House but was not voted upon in the Senate, Inouye said the critical step will be passage there. That will not happen, Inouye predicted, unless the White House has signed off on the measure.
"If it passes the Senate, it is a big signal," Inouye said. "It is almost a huge flag saying, 'We approve.' If it passes, it means a message must have been sent. ... Then you will see a signing before the end of the presidential term."
Still, Inouye noted that the measure's chances of passage were 50-50.
The governor, meanwhile, said she was encouraged because she had heard that Attorney General John Ashcroft opposed the bill, but when she met with him Friday, she discovered he did not have an opinion on it.
"Ashcroft said he hasn't heard of it," Lingle said.
Inouye said he also doubted that Ashcroft, who is dealing with issues of terrorism, was not likely to have devoted any time to Hawaiian sovereignty.
"He doesn't have the time to involve himself in every issue before us, no matter how important it is to us," Inouye said.
"I think she (Lingle) has the skill to articulate it, that this is not a race issue. If we can convince him (Ashcroft) that this an issue of native Americans, not race, then we are on the road," Inouye said.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, whose name is attached to the measure, said he was optimistic.
"If there is one word we are using, it is 'education,'" Akaka said yesterday.
"I would say that Gov. Lingle's feelings to support the bill will help us here, but, as I said, we will wait and see after a month what effect it has," Akaka added.
Lingle had also met with Karl Rove, Bush's key political strategist and White House advisor, and Gale Norton, secretary of the interior, about the bill. She said last night that native Hawaiians are victims of discrimination.
"It is native Hawaiians who are being discriminated against because they are not being treated as other indigenous people are in the country," Lingle said.
"There are only three other indigenous groups: the Alaska natives, the American Indians and the native Hawaiians. And (the Hawaiians) are being treated differently," she said.
Lingle testified today before the Indian Affairs Committee hearing. According to her prepared remarks, Lingle said the bill "is vital to the survival of the native Hawaiian people.
"It is vital to the continued character of our state, and it is vital to providing parity and consistency in federal policy for all native peoples in America," according to her prepared text.
Micah Kane, Hawaiian Home Lands director, also appeared before the committee today, saying the Akaka bill would stop legal uncertainties that are now affecting Hawaii's economy.
"These troubling and unsettled issues relate to property title, ceded-land claims and rights to natural resources," Kane said. "Without federal recognition of native Hawaiians, the state of Hawaii will spend thousands of unnecessary man-hours and millions of taxpayer dollars defending and clarifying native Hawaiian rights."
Also testifying for the bill today were Hawaii's U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Neil Abercrombie. In prepared testimony, Abercrombie said the bill would "bring unity to the Hawaiian people."
Haunani Apoliona, chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, also testified. She and several OHA trustees were in Washington yesterday to open a one-person office devoted to lobbying for the bill in Congress. Inouye and Akaka attended the opening of the office.
Lingle is scheduled to leave Washington today for a trip to New York to discuss state finances. She is expected to be back at work in Honolulu on Monday.
Office of the Governor
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The various sovereignty groups who believe in an independent Hawaiian nation say their efforts are being overshadowed by the attention given to the Akaka bill. Native Hawaiians will
not benefit by bill,
say some sovereignty groupsBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comBut no matter what, they say, they will not go away. Some even suggested yesterday that public protests are needed to raise awareness that federal recognition will extinguish all native Hawaiian claims against the United States.
"They've got to deal with us sooner or later -- it will come down to that," said Hawaiian activist Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele. He said the group he leads, the Nation of Hawaii, is prepared to protest in Waikiki "to get our voices heard."
Gov. Linda Lingle, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona and others were expected to testify today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Lingle is wrapping up nearly a week of lobbying for the Akaka bill in Washington, D.C., and there is renewed hope among bill supporters that Congress will approve it this year.
That strong push for the Akaka bill has prompted the splintered independence movement to rise together to call for a moratorium until all Hawaiian voices are heard.
Kanahele, who said education is the best weapon against the Akaka bill, said discussion is under way on how to unify independence supporters, perhaps through a Hawaiian constitutional convention.
"The problem now is, our voices are not being heard in Washington, and the resources and all the money is going into funding pro-Akaka (bill) efforts at the price of our potential rights to independence," said attorney Ho'oipokalaena'auao Nakea Pa, who was formerly known as Elizabeth Pa Martin.
The independence movement includes groups such as Nation of Hawaii, which considers itself a sovereign nation operating within an illegally U.S.-occupied Hawaiian Islands.
Others advocate decolonization of Hawaii from the United States or have self-proclaimed the restoration or continued existence of the Hawaiian kingdom.
This minority faction of Hawaiians have either renounced their American citizenship or hold dual citizenship, and some have changed their names.
But all are against the federal government infringing on what they call their inherent right toward self-determination. They claim the people who support the Akaka bill do not represent Hawaiians. Instead, they represent the state, federal and nonprofit groups that want to continue to receive government subsidies to help Hawaiians.
Louie "Buzzy" Agard, a longtime independence advocate, said yesterday it is difficult to have much faith in offers to the Hawaiian people because of past oversights and omissions. He pointed to the controversial 1983 Native Hawaiian Study Commission report that denied recommendations for reparations and sovereignty to those of Hawaiian ancestry.
"People should remember that whatever decision is made, they have certain rights that are inherent, and they would be able to exercise those rights they have been denied," Agard said.
Hawaiian activist Richard Kinney, who has renounced his American citizenship, believes if the Akaka bill becomes law, it will terminate the federal Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 because it would relinquish all Hawaiian claims on the U.S. government.
