Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 9, 1 September 1999 — Federal housing bill amended [ARTICLE]

Federal housing bill amended

By Paula Durbln AFEW days before the United States Congress went into recess on Aug. 7, S. 225, a bill extending the Native Amenean Housing Assistance and Self-Determina-tion Act to Hawaiians, was redrafted to include two changes proposed by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands: • They suggested the "findings" section be modified to emphasize the relationship between the U. S. and the Kingdom of Hawai'i as well as the special trust obligations accepted by the U.S. in 1898, and to minimize any inferenee that the independent poliheal status of Hawaiians flows from the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921. • They wanted reference to the 50 percent

blood quantum set forth in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act replaced with the modem, pre-contact definition. In the current version of S. 225, the "findings" section has been modified and reference to the 50 percent blood quantum has been omitted. OHA and DHīffi had also proposed two other amendments whieh were not incorporated. One would have expanded the DHHL land limitation to include all ceded lands on whieh either OHA or DHHL is authorized to provide low-ineome housing. The other would have defined the agency administering the funds as DHHL or OHA. Under the current draft, benefits would continue to be limited to DHHL lessees and would be administered only by DHHL. The bill presumably will receive further eonsideration after Congress reconvenes Sept. 8. ■