Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 6, 1 June 2002 — Akaka Bill's uphill battle [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Akaka Bill's uphill battle

By Naomi Sodetani Tough challenges confront the Akaka Bill as it onee again attempts passage before eongress adjourns in October, Hawai'i's Congressional delegates must win over a few hold-out colleagues and Native Hawaiians who criticize the bill as flawed, while countering lobbying efforts of others who condemn it as racebased and unconstitutional, While the Senate leader-

ship of both parties have agreed to bring the bill to the floor, it has not yet been scheduled, "We're sort of standing in line because of the problem of limited time," said Sen, Daniel ,Akaka.

Congress has been

deeply occupied since Sept, 11 with national security issues and the war on terror, and the bill now jockeys for space on a crammed agenda of pressing bigticket issues legislators must eonsider during a campaign year, The senators and their staff are working to loosen up a handful of senators who fear that the legislation will lead to private landowners losing their land, authorize gaming in Hawai'i, or impact program funding for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives, "This bill does none of these things," Akaka said, "īt simply provides a mechanism to address some of the longstanding problems affecting Hawaiians, ceded lands and self-determination," OHA's board is on record supporting S746 and its eompanion bill, HR617, "Federal recognition for Hawaiians is also publicly support-

ed by American īndians and Alaskan natives who recognize that we Hawaiians have the same right they do to exercise our political status as people indigenous to the U,S,," said OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona, "Congress should not hold Hawaiians hostage in this election year but send the bill down for a vote, Take their stand now 'up or down,'" Apoliona said, "Federal recognition should be supported by both parties because it is not a

Republican or Democrat issue, īt is a justice issue, and it will not go away, Our ancestors would not quit, nor should we, Pono kakou: Hawaiian recognition now," Conceived on the heels of the U,S, Supreme Court's

Rice decision m 1998 that

ruled that non-Hawanans could vote for OHA trustees, the Akaka Bill establishes an incremental process for organizing a Native Hawaiian governing entity and federal recognition of the U,S, government's political relationship with Native Hawaiians, īf passed, the Akaka law would offer a possible shield against pending and future legal challenges seeking to dismantle Native Hawaiian entitlements, Since 1999, the bill has undergone numerous revisions, īn December, a ' trial halloon' (S 1 783) was floated to flush out the īnterior Deptartment's position, and Sen, īnouye attached yet another version (S81) to a defense appropriations bill that he yanked prior to a floor vote, Sen, Akaka confirmed that S746 is the "active vehicle" being pushed, The most important federal legisSee AKAKA on pagel8

Sen. Akaka

AKAKA from page 4 lation to impact Native Hawaiians since statehood has often eome under fire from Native Hawaiians who criticize certain provisions, such as assigning jurisdiction over the Hawaiian governing entity to the Dept. of the īnterior, whieh is embroiled in a legal dispute over its mismanagement of Native American trust assets. On top of this community divide, non-Hawaiian opponents of the Akaka Bill are now lobbying Congress to block its passage. Paul Sullivan, counsel for the U.S. Navy Pacific Division at Pearl Harbor, wrote a 55-page analysis entitled "Killing Aloha," whieh says the measure would divide the people of Hawai'i and set a dangerous precedent for other non-tribal groups in the country. Sullivan called the bill "morally, politically and socially wrong" in promoting "permanent political and social segregation of American citi-

zens" on racial grounds. Sullivan's analysis is disseminated on a website of the "Aloha For All" organization that calls for abolishing all native entitlements on the grounds that they discriminate against non-Hawaiians. The group is founded by William and Puanani Sandra Burgess, plaintiffs in the Amkaki eī al v. Cayeīano eī al suit seeking to drain OHA's ceded lands revenue stream and the Dept. of Hawaiian Home Lands mandate of issuing homestead lots. With their rights and resources under attack, Native Hawaiians must act, Sen. Akaka said. He urged Native Hawaiian organizations and individuals to organize community support for the bill, to continue to reorganize a sovereign governing entity, and to contact members of Congress to express their support. "Everyone needs to work together and get the message out that this bill needs to pass now," Akaka said. ■