Revamped Akaka Bill
awaiting attention

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka unveiled an amended version of his native Hawaiian recognition bill yesterday and said he is still hoping to get a vote on the measure before the Senate adjourns for the year.

The changes to the so-called Akaka Bill were negotiated with the Bush administration to meet concerns over gambling, criminal jurisdiction, military readiness and federal liability.

"The compromises we made preserve the intent and purpose of the bill," Akaka, D-Hawaii, said in a release from his Washington office.

The long-stalled bill, formally known as the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, had been scheduled for a possible vote earlier this month, but Hurricane Katrina legislation again pushed it aside.

Akaka said he is working to get a "cloture" vote scheduled. The vote, which must have at least 60 votes to pass, is needed to allow Akaka to then bring his bill to the floor for a final Senate vote.

"As of yet, the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S.147 has not been rescheduled by the majority leader (Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn.)," Akaka said.

Akaka said the agreements reached with the Justice Department and the White House "allows the United States and the state of Hawaii to assert sovereign immunity against any claims related to breach of trust, land, resource protection or resource-management claims."

That means, Akaka said, that the native Hawaii recognition bill would not permit claims to be brought before a court, but must be negotiated as part of the settlement process detailed in the bill.

State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, chairwoman of the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, said that would work to the benefit of native Hawaii groups.

"I think at a minimum it would be an immunity for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs from lawsuits if you are saying that the state is immune. I think that would have major implications," Hanabusa said.

Others, however, are not sure about the effects of the changes.

OHA announced that is was going to hire "legal scholars versed in Indian law and native rights to analyze what impact these proposed amendments will have on the Hawaiian and non-Hawaii communities."

Until that analysis can be done, OHA trustees said they would not comment on the amendments.

Ikaika Hussey, spokesman for Hui Pu, a native Hawaiian group against the Akaka Bill, said the amendments would not change their opposition.

"This bill has become progressively worse since 1999, and is now a blatantly anti-Hawaiian bill," Hussey said.

The bill's new language prohibits gambling operations by native Hawaiians in Hawaii or anywhere else, guarantees existing federal and state jurisdiction in criminal matters, exempts the Defense Department from having to consult with more native Hawaiian offices over its operations, and ensures against use of the bill to settle any Hawaiian claims against the government.

Hawaii's other U.S. senator, Daniel Inouye, called the new version "a significant milestone along the road to federal recognition of native Hawaiians." He said passage of the bill would allow Hawaiians to "stand proudly as equals among the other indigenous peoples of America."

Administration officials and bill opponents had objected to several provisions of the bill, fearing it would empower native Hawaiians to set up gambling operations similar to those allowed for Indian tribes, interfere with criminal prosecutions, hinder military operations in Hawaii and push claims against the government.

The section on military readiness exempts the military from the need to consult with more native Hawaiian offices under the bill. It already consults with native Hawaiians under federal laws aimed at preserving native graves and protecting historic sites, and officials did not want to add new consultation requirements that might bottle up military training and other operations on its extensive lands in Hawaii.