Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 10, 1 October 1993 — News from Washington D.C. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

News from Washington D.C.

Mai Wakinekona Mai

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

Hawaiian legislation in Congress bucks anti-trust legacy

The few months following Congress' annual August recess generally are when mueh legislation is passed. The focus of the

new 103rd Congress is of course, the agenda of the Clinton Administration. Other than the many important appropriations for the programs for native Hawaiians already in plaee, to date there are relatively few new leg-

islative items pertaining to native Hawaiians. In part this may be because the Clinton Administration has not yet unraveled the anti-trust relationship position adopted in the waning days of the Bush Administration. In addition, the poliheal focus in Hawai'i has shifted to the drive for a native Hawaiian eonstitutional convention, with the

precondition referendum. One item making its way in the federal legislative process is Sen. Joint Resolution 19, Sen. Daniel

Akaka's "apology" bill. This bill would provide the formal apology of the United States to the Hawaiian people for the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy 100 years ago. The Senate Indian Affairs committee, chaired by Sen.

Daniel Inouye, favorably reported S.J. Res. 19 to the Senate on July 29. Last year, an identical bill, S.J. Res. 335, was passed by the Senate, but did not become law because the House of Representatives did not pass it before the 102nd Congress' twoyear term ended. Sen. Akaka, with the support of the Hawai'i congressional delegation, the governor and some

native Hawaiian groups, is attempting through legislative oversight to get the Census Bureau to classify native Hawaiians as native Americans. Native Hawaiians currently are categorized in the U.S. Census as Asian or Pacific Islanders. The senator testified before the House Subcommittee on Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel and pointed out that native Hawaiians are an indigenous people. However, the census classification treats native Hawaiians as if they were immigrants to the United States. Currently only American Indians and Alaska Natives are classified as Native Americans. Legislative activity on the resurrection of the Native Hawaiian Education Amendments is expected to begin momentarily. The native Hawaiian amendments were added to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) at its last

reauthorization. ESEA again requires reauthorization and the Native Hawaiian Education Programs will onee more need to be added as amendments. Work on these amendments comes out of the education summit conducted in April in Hawai'i and coordinated by Sen. Inouye. ESEA will begin its legislative trip in the House Education and Labor Committee. Congresswoman Patsy Mink is a member and is expected to be an active player on behalf of the Native Hawaiian Education Programs. Congressman Neil Abercrombie is a member of the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, where he recently added an amendment to H.R. 2401, a bill to provide authorization for defense appropriations. This amendment, section 2843, requires that the military consult with and obtain the consent of the governor of Hawai'i for any new construction

on a military reservation (in Hawai'i) on ceded or exchanged lands. The purpose of the amendment, according to him, is to "give the Hawaiian people, through their elected representatives, a voice in protecting their rightful and lawful interest in Hawai'i's ceded lands." The report of the congressional-ly-created National Commission on American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiians Housing is also expected shortly. It appears that the commission will recommend to Congress that the Hawaiian Home lands Trust be eligible to participate in a range of federally subsidized housing programs, including community development grants, mutual help homeowners, lowineome rental housing, and the housing guarantee loan programs. These recommendations will require legislative amendments.