Groups trumpet
Akaka billSupporters will hold community
meetings around the state to
address the bill's impacts
Supporters of the Akaka bill for federal recognition of native Hawaiians are taking their message on the road, locally and nationally.
The State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, Hui Kako'o Aina Ho'opulapula and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs are sponsoring community workshops on the Akaka bill on every island throughout June and July.
"We are standing together to educate all of the people of Hawaii," said Charlie Rose, president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.
"The issues at hand, the outcome of the lawsuits and the legislation pending in the Congress will touch every single person in Hawaii, not just native Hawaiians," Rose said.
The trio's educational effort will examine recent lawsuits against Hawaiian programs, the economic and social impacts of the congressional legislation and how public policy is formed. The groups believe 3,100 local jobs and $147 million a year in federal programs for native Hawaiians are at risk if the Akaka bill does not pass Congress or is not signed by President Bush.
"The lawsuits filed against Hawaiian agencies are serious threats to the existence of the Hawaiian Homes programs," said Blossom Feiteira, Hui president. The group represents the nearly 20,000 applicants on the homestead waiting list.
Tony Sang, president of the Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, added the workshops will be begin Tuesday.
The bill, introduced by U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, would set up a process upon which Hawaiians can form their own government that could be certified by the U.S. secretary of the interior.
Such action would give them similar political status as American Indians and Alaskan Natives. Moreover, it would help nullify arguments of racial discrimination in ongoing lawsuits against the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
And there remains concerns the Bush administration may not support the Akaka bill. Last month, a U.S. Justice Department letter to a U.S. Senate committee had stated a reference to native Hawaiians should be deleted from a bill benefiting native American small businesses because it "could be viewed as authorizing the award of government benefits on the basis of racial or ethnic criteria."
But Gov. Linda Lingle and others doubt it represents a policy by the Bush administration.
OHA officials returned to Washington, D.C., on Friday to push for passage of S. 344, the most current version of the Akaka bill. Trustees and staff will meet with members of Congress and their staff, as well as with community groups such as the East Coast region of the Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association and the Hawaii State Society of Washington, D.C.