Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 12, 1 December 1990 — Mai Wakinekona [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mai Wakinekona

By Paul Alexander Washington, D.C. Counsel for OHA

Native Hawaiian Legislation in the 101st Congress

The 101st Congress ended in the early morning hours of Oct. 28, 1990 shortly after a large number of legislative matters were passed. Most bills are still awaiting Presidential approval; vetoes are not anticipated. Among

this flurry of final legislative activity, were several laws that will affect Native Hawaiians; also passed were various appropriations bills that provide funding or otherwise affect Native Hawaiian issues.

I. Legislation enacted into Law: Native American Repatriation of Cultural Patrimony Act, S. 1980 [introduced by Sen. Inouye (D-HI)] and H.R. 5237 [introduced by Sen. Udall (D-AZ)]. H.R. 5237 was passed by both Houses of Congress and is expected to be signed into law. Among other items, the law will provide for a process to enable the inventory and return of skeletal remains and sacred items in the possession of any federal agency, or publicly supported museum, to heirs, tribes, or in case of Native Hawaiians, Native Hawaiian Organizations, including OHA and Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei.

Native American Language Act, S. 1781 [introduced by Sen. Inouye (D-HI)] passed as part of S. 2167, and is expected to be signed into law. This law will set the policy of the U.S. to favor the preservation, protection, and promotion of the rights of Native Americans, including Native Hawaiians, to use, practice, and develop Native Amenean languages. Kaho'olawe lsland Bombing Ban and Commission, S. 3088 [Akaka (D-H1)] passed as a part of the Defense Appropriations Act, whieh is expected to be signed and become law. This bill will bar the military from continuing to use the island as a bombing target, and will set up a five-member commission to recommend the terms and conditions for the return of the island to Hawai'i. OHA will have one appointment to the commission. Shortly after the Senate Appropriations Committee incorporated S. 3088, President Bush, by a

one year executive order, stopped the bombing of Kaho'olawe Island. II. Earlier enactments — 101st Congress: Native American Indian Heritage Month, Delegate Eni Faleomavaeaga (D-Amer. Samoa)

was the primary sponsor of this measure whieh beeame P.L. 101-343 on Aug. 3, 1990. The joint resolution designates November 1990 as heritage month. The National Museum of the American Indian, P.L. 101-185, became law on Nov. 28, 1989. Sen. Inouye was the chief sponsor. Its primary purpose is to provide for the creation of a nahonal Museum in Washington, D.C. as part of the Smithsonian system. The law also provides for the return of Native American skeletal remains and sacred objects in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution to actual descendants, tribes of origin, or Native Hawaiian organizations, as appropriate. An initial return of Native Hawaiian remains from the Smithsonian to Hawai'i occurred in July 1990.

III. Bills Not Enacted — 101st Congress Senate Joint Resolution 154, To Provide the United States' Consent to Assorted Amendments to the Hawaiian Homestead Commission Act, [introduced by Sen. Johnston (D-LA)]; the eompanion bill was H.J. Res. 444 [introduced by Sen. Akaka (D-HI)]. Questions arose eoncerning whether two of the assorted amendments were sufficiently protective of the Native Hawaiian Trust assets, and these amendments were stripped from the version that passed the Senate. The House, however, did not act on the Resolution and it died with the end of the Congress.

S.J. Res. 360, To Provide a Apology for the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i [introduced by Sen. Akaka (D-HI)] This resolution, introduced late in the Congress, also provided for a declaration of the United States' Trust obligation to Native Hawaiians. Matters of this kind are very controversial and often require consideration by several multiple Congresses before action is taken. It is therefore not surprising that no legislative action was taken on this resolution in the 101st Congress.

IV. Appropriations for FY 1991: Many of the Native Hawaiian programs are funded, and therefore affected by the annual ap-

propriation for the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Sen. lnouye, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is a member of the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. Health and Human Services: Health:

—$3,416,000 was provided, under the authority of the Native Hawaiian Health Care Amendments, for Native Hawaiian health care, including $750,000 for education and training scholarships, $400,000 for Papa Ola Lokahi, and $2.35 million for Native Hawaiian Health Centers. Also provided in the appropriations committee report are instructions to the Department of Health and Human Services to: • include Native Hawaiians in Rural and Native American mental health research ($15 million nationwide was provided for the general program). • urge the Nahonal Health Service Corp. to provide its NHSC nursing personnel at Native Hawaiian Health Centers. In addition, • Native Hawaiian Health Centers were made an eligible "service exchange" for the Nursing Loan Repayment Program (this provides federal funds for nursing students who may pay back their obligations through eligible public service.)

• the Center for Disease Control was urged by Congress to target the high incidence of diabetes among Native Hawaiians among its activities. • the National Cancer Institute was urged by Congress to focus its research on cancer prevention and to develop "specific culturally appropriate interventions" for Native Hawaiians, American Indians, Native Alaskans, and Amenean Samoans. • the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive Kidney Disease was directed to spend $500,000 on nroiects tarqeted for Native Hawaiians.

• the National Institute of Mental Health was provided $4.5 million for rural, and Native Amenean (including Native Hawaiians) mental health research. Congress also directed NIMH to set aside elinieal training to get Native Americans involved in graduate programs in core mental health fields. • the National Institute on Drug Abuse will provide $200,000 to the Drug Abuse Warning Net-