Two- to three-week
delay expected on
Akaka Bill vote

WASHINGTON » Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, Senate leaders and Gov. Linda Lingle are speculating that the next action on the native Hawaiian recognition bill is at least two to three weeks away.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., GOP policy committee chairman and an opponent of the measure known as the Akaka Bill, said increased demands on Congress make the bill a "victim of unfortunate timing."

"This week is not in the picture. We just need to figure out a date to plug into the schedule. It will be up to leadership," Kyl said.

The bill to start the process of granting federal recognition to native Hawaiians had been up for a key vote yesterday, but was delayed so Congress could work on Hurricane Katrina relief bills and the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice.

The Senate was supposed to vote on a motion of cloture that would have forced a vote, but senators said there just wasn't time.

In July, Lingle and Office of Hawaiian Affairs and other officials traveled to Washington to lobby for a Senate vote, only to be blocked by a number of Republican senators putting holds on the bill. On the last day before the summer recess, Majority Leader Bill Frist filed the motion to force a vote on the bill.

Lingle says the bill will be delayed "two to three weeks, based on what I have been hearing, but I hate to be definitive."

Akaka said yesterday, however, that he will continue to press for a vote on the measure. Akaka said he thinks the Senate's GOP leaders "will make every effort to get it back on track."

Referring to Frist, R-Tenn., Akaka said: "I will be on his back, pressing for a vote."

Earlier this year, Akaka and Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye said the GOP leadership had promised a vote on the bill by August, but since then, several Republicans have objected to the measure and blocked the floor vote.

Lingle was able to increase her own lobbying yesterday after she found out from Akaka's staff that as a sitting governor she is allowed on the Senate floor.

Lingle said she took advantage of the location to snag senators during recesses. "I had more privileges there than I have at home with the Legislature," Lingle said.

"I was talking with Sen. (Norm) Coleman, R-Minn., one of the bill's co-sponsors, and he said, 'Let's go talk in the cloakroom,' so I was able to hook up with senators who I have not seen before. To be there in person and let them know I feel it is important to the state, I think has made an impact," Lingle said.

The lobbying effort was helped, Lingle said, when senators came up to Akaka and he introduced them to her.

"They can't pass him by. And he would say, 'Do you know our governor,'" Lingle said.

With the GOP controlling 55 Senate seats, Lingle said it helps to have bipartisan lobbying.

"It does underscore for me how important it is to have balanced representation up here, and again, no matter how long you have had someone in office, regardless of party, being able to work both sides, as we are doing now, has made a difference," Lingle said.

Asked if the chance to observe the Senate up close made her want to consider running for the Senate, Lingle said, "No."