Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 11, 1 November 1986 — Mai Wakinekona [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mai Wakinekona

The Ninety-Ninth Congress

By Larry Kamakawiwo'oie Federal Liaison Officer

The ninety-ninth Congress is expected to adjourn by Oct. 17 orshortly thereafter. During the fall of every election year, members of Congress try to complete their business as early as possible in order to return home so that members who survived the primary eleetions ean campaign during

the remaining weeks ot the general elections. Because of the demanding workload that needs to be completed prior to adjournment, there has been talk on Capitol Hill of a lame duck session. However, members of Congress usually try to avoid such a session because it is called after a general congressional election that includes members who have been defeated. Therefore, it is highly unlikely at this moment that there will be a lame duck session. For this issue, I will present a summary update of the bills and resolutions affecting Hawaiians in the ninetyninth Congress. 1 will close with Senate Resolutions 495 (S. Res. 495) introduced by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye on Oct. 8, in honor of Princess Bernice Pauahi Paki Bishop. ln my next article, 1 will present the final status of eaeh bill and resolution affecting Hawaiians in the ninetyninth Congress and an analysis of the problems that confronted those bills and resolutions whieh did not beeome public law.

Because of the time lapse between the time 1 submit my articles and the time you read them, please allow for any changes in the status of the bills and resolutions. S. 2294 (H.R. 5520), Education of the Handicapped Amendments of 1986, has become Public law 99-457. The President signed S. 2294 into law on Oct. 8. However, H.R. 5520 passed the House amended on Sept. 22, and the Senate agreed to those amendments on Sept. 24. The House amendments in effect deleted the Hawaiian provisons from the original S. 2294 and instead wrote them into, House Report 99-860. Although the language used in the House report is strong, e.g., Congress directs the appropriate entity to develop a parental training center in Hawai'i, it is not equal to actual language expressed in the statute. One of the reasons for the Senate-House compromise was to pre-

sent a bi-partisan bill to the President with the objective of it becoming law rather than having to risk its defeat. H.J. Res. 17, to consent to amendments enacted by the legislature of the State of Hawai'i to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, has passed both Houses and is expected to be signed into law by the President. H.R. 3700, Higher Education amendments of 1985, became S.1965 as amended on June 17, 1986. lt passed both Houses and was presented to the President on Oct. 7. S. 2515 (H.R. 4021), Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986, passed both Houses on Oct. 3, as H.R. 4021 and has been presented to the President for signature on Oct. 10. S. 1622, Native American Culture and Art Development Act, was reported in the Senate on May 29. No action has been taken.

S. 1988, Native American Diabetes Prevention and Control Act of 1985, was reported in the Senate on May 29. No action has been taken. S. 2243, to improve the health status of native Hawaiians, was reported to the Senate amended on Oct. 6. No action has been taken. S. 830, Indian Education Amendment Act, remains in the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. No action has been taken. S. 121, Native American Gifted and Talented Education Assistance Act, was referred to the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources whieh subsequently referred it to the Subcommittee on Education, Arts and Humanities. No action has been taken. H.R. 4171, counterpart to S. 830, remains in the House Committee on Education and Labor. No action has been taken. H.R. 4282, a eompanion bill to S. 1968, was referred to two House committees, lnterior and lnsular Affairs and Energy and Commerce. It was subsequently sent to the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment. No hearings were held. H.R. 1426, lndian Health care Amendments of 1985, ,was referred jointly to the House Committee on lnterior and Insular Affairs and the Committee on Energy and

Commerce. It was reported to the House anel passed on Sept. 22. The Senate passed the bill as S. 277 amended on Oct. 8, and the House agreed to the Senate amendment with an amendment on Oct. 10. Thus, the bill was sent back to the Senate. H.R. 1426 has two Hawaiian provisions: (1) scholarships in the health professions and (2) a demonstration project.

A note on the legislative process. When a bill has been agreed to identical form by both Houses, a copy of the bill is enrolled for presentation to the President. The enrolling clerk of the House from where the bill originated must prepare meticulously the final form of the bill, as it was agreed to by both Houses, for presentation to the President. After a bill has been presented to the President, for his signature he has 10 days (Sundays excepted) to return the bill with objections. If the President does not return the bill within the allotted time, the bill may beeome law without the President's signature as long as Congress is in session. Finally, S. Res. 495 passed the Senate on Oct. 8. It reads in part: Whereas Mrs. Bishop, before her death, was moved by the alarming decline in number and condition of her people, and was determined to find ways that she could best help succeeding generations of the Hawaiian children that she would never know;

Whereas Mrs. Bishop saw that a good education was the key to the future success of her people, and therefore willed her entire estate to the founding and maintaining of the Kamehameha Schools; Whereas the Kamehameha Schools/Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate accepted its first students in 1887, and has since educated more than 12,000 graduated, who have established themse!ves in carēers and occupations in communities around the world, bringing honor and pride to the Schools/Estate and Hawaii; Whereas it is appropriate and fitting that on the centennial anniversary of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Bernice Pauahi Bishop be acknowledged by all to be one of the greatest humanitarians in Hawaiian history: Now, therefore be it Resolved, that the United States Senate does hereby recognize Bernice Pauahi Bishop as one of the great humanitarians in United States history.