Thursday, December 17, 2009
Native Hawaiian Bill Moves Ahead Without Revision That Upset State
H.R. 2314: Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009
By JOHN YAUKEY and Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Government Writers
WASHINGTON — A Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill moved forward in the House yesterday without the proposed changes that have drawn opposition from Gov. Linda Lingle.
The bill, which creates a process for Hawaiians to form their own government similar to American Indians and Alaska Natives, was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee and now goes to the full House.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, chose not to offer an amendment to the bill that had prompted objections from Lingle and state Attorney General Mark Bennett. The amendment would have granted governing authority to Hawaiians prior to — instead of after — negotiations with the federal and state governments and would have treated Hawaiians as an Indian tribe in some cases.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, the bill's main sponsor, will decide whether to offer the amendment when the bill comes before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee today.
The sudden opposition by the Lingle administration, which has previously supported the Akaka bill, led to confusion about how the proposed changes were developed and questions about why the state was not fully consulted.
Abercrombie said on Tuesday night that he was surprised the state received the proposed changes only in the past few days.
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, issued an even stronger statement yesterday. "The events of the past 24 hours were totally unexpected," he said. "I was very surprised.
"I was not aware that the revisions to the bill being discussed between Sen. Akaka's office and President Obama's administration were not shared with Gov. Linda Lingle. I am in the process of trying to determine what happened and the best course forward."
Jesse Broder Van Dyke, a spokesman for Akaka, said the Obama administration worked on the draft of the proposed changes. The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and the Native Hawaiian Bar Association also had input.
The amendment was not finalized until last week, he said, and the text was not widely released until Monday.
Even if Akaka chooses to abandon the amendment today, he said, negotiations with the Obama administration would continue as the bill moves to the House and Senate floors.
The episode is the first real crack in the otherwise unified front on the Akaka bill between Democrats in the Hawai'i congressional delegation and the Republican governor.
closing ranks
Hawai'i lawmakers, who wanted the bill to have an easy path, now have to do some damage control.
"The bill approved by the committee today was as I introduced it earlier this year, without change or amendment," Abercrombie said in a statement after the committee vote. "We will be working with the state of Hawai'i and the Obama administration to determine the best way to proceed."
House Republicans, who question whether the Akaka bill is constitutional because it divides people by race, also claimed partial victory.
"It was the correct course of action for Democrats to abandon their rush to adopt the proposed changes to the Akaka bill at today's hastily scheduled markup," Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., the ranking member of the committee, said in a statement.
"With both the attorney general and governor of Hawai'i announcing their strong opposition to the proposed revisions to this bill, moving forward would have been irresponsible and highly alarming."
Bennett said he was pleased by Abercrombie's decision. He said the Lingle administration is prepared to work with Hawai'i lawmakers and the Obama administration to address any concerns about the bill.
"Our support for it is undiminished by the recent events," he said.
challenge in senate
The House has passed versions of the Akaka bill twice since it was first introduced in 2000. But the bill has always faced problems in the Senate, where opponents can use procedural tools to delay bills until 60 of the chamber's 100 senators agree to move forward.
The Akaka bill could rewrite the political landscape in Hawai'i, potentially giving Native Hawaiians greater rights over land use and cultural issues, including control over 1.8 million acres annexed by the United States in 1898.
The state Office of Hawaiian Affairs and many Hawaiians support the bill as a measure of self-determination for an indigenous people, but some Hawaiians believe it would weaken claims of sovereignty.
Other opponents of the legislation, including many conservatives, say the bill challenges the American principle of equality and opens the door to political volatility among Native Hawaiians.
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice under President Bush argued the Akaka bill would "divide people by their race."
Justice Department officials from the Obama administration have been negotiating with the Hawai'i delegation about fine points in the bill, but the department has supported the bill.
Akaka has said he expects he will need 60 votes in the Senate to eventually pass the bill.
"It looks like that's the route we'll have to go," he said.
John Yaukey reported from Washington, D.C. Derrick DePledge reported from Honolulu. Reach Yaukey at jyaukey@gannett.com.
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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Just got through reading the ad. comments. It's so funny how people are speaking their truth about 'Uncle Dan' and how everybody becomes a Hawaiian. Not to mention all that gambling casinos and racketerring ventures.
Also too, read through your first citation. Special treatment, no standing in lower courts, and gambling are the three basic extractions from the Act.
Thanks for putting this on record. Need to get back to Nuclear Fall Out in Aloha land. We are going before the NRC soon and need to get the evidence together. Mahalo
I'm just posting this here for some people just in case since some people busy working to survive and sometimes no moa time to look some stuff up:
The House Natural Resources Committee meeting on December 16, 2009 approved the "Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009" (H.R. 2314), introduced by Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), by a vote of 26-13:
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee met on December 17, 2009 and approved S 1011 but I can't see the votes. The Akaka Bill is posted at this article near the title of this article
This is not specifically directed to you Pomai because you always there... but I know that for some people despair can set in sometimes. That and hopelessness. Perhaps a sense of defeat. However it is not over.
It has ONLY begun.
Just make sure that it is in writing... that it is not with "your" consent because specifically with real property "if it isn't in writing... it doesn't exist."
Offline. Online. In newspapers. Everywhere.
IMHO I hope to see more Hawaiians upload videos at Youtube speaking out against the Akaka Bill as well without insulting Americans because IMHO once they see and hear transparent Hawaiians who are passionate then they will understand and they will be on your side. (It is amazing what one person can do.)
I have been pushing for the same thing that the people should be writing, e-mailing, faxing, whatever, to all the congresspeople, newspapers, their friends out-of-state to write to their congressperson to vote no to the bill. It seems the voice of two people representing the state has more influence than the purported beneficiuaries. We are always spoken of as in the third person with no voice. Their demands are considered and ours is ignored. The elite Hawaiian-Americans are the ones that will get their way and fulfill their pecuniary interests, power, and control. The rest of the people will suck kukae. That the name of their game.
We need to realize our "sovereignty groups" are political parties with their own platforms under the cloak of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and they are unified in our nationality as subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom; and why not, the U.S. has 22 recognized and registered political parties within their own country. We should ask them to coalesce in one movement to move the kingdom forward to fly in the faces of the enemy. People shouldn't shy away from joining in any of the groups or just remain independent but respect and accept the different parties within the Kingdom. This doesn't mean we are divided; but means we are diverse-thinking nationals like any other country.
If they pass the bill in their country, just don't comply with it. It's their internal and domestic bill and law that only affects Americans. It is plainly stated that one has to be a U.S. citizen to be included under their bill as a native American tribe. So, that lets Hawaii national/subjects out of the participaion and membership if their "governing entity". Another point is that if you are less than 50%, you most likely will fail to meet the requirement of membership in their tribe. This means a minority of American-Hawaiians will sell you out for their own selfish wants and most of you will suck wind.
If you think we have problems nows; wait till they pass this bill. It will be a new adversay that we will be fighting against as they try to negotiate our land, resources and autonomy away to the alleged State of Hawai'i, the Federal U.S. government and its military who will continue to dump their toxins on us.
If they get their way; it might be better to now decide where you will locate outside of Hawai'i as it will not be fit for human sustainability. Your keiki may not be able to survive healthwise and will be relegated to be a vagabond or nomad or prematurely dead. We will have no control over that situation as it is already happening under the U.S. watch. They have always considered Hawaii as expendable.
So, you decide how much you want to preserve our 'aina, nation, and keiki.
Replies
Just got through reading the ad. comments. It's so funny how people are speaking their truth about 'Uncle Dan' and how everybody becomes a Hawaiian. Not to mention all that gambling casinos and racketerring ventures.
Also too, read through your first citation. Special treatment, no standing in lower courts, and gambling are the three basic extractions from the Act.
Thanks for putting this on record. Need to get back to Nuclear Fall Out in Aloha land. We are going before the NRC soon and need to get the evidence together. Mahalo
I'm just posting this here for some people just in case since some people busy working to survive and sometimes no moa time to look some stuff up:
The House Natural Resources Committee meeting on December 16, 2009 approved the "Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009" (H.R. 2314), introduced by Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), by a vote of 26-13:
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&am...
and votes here
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/images/Documents/20091216/2413_...
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee met on December 17, 2009 and approved S 1011 but I can't see the votes. The Akaka Bill is posted at this article near the title of this article
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912...
The bill is here:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/assets/pdf/M11487071217.PDF
This is not specifically directed to you Pomai because you always there... but I know that for some people despair can set in sometimes. That and hopelessness. Perhaps a sense of defeat. However it is not over.
It has ONLY begun.
Just make sure that it is in writing... that it is not with "your" consent because specifically with real property "if it isn't in writing... it doesn't exist."
Offline. Online. In newspapers. Everywhere.
IMHO I hope to see more Hawaiians upload videos at Youtube speaking out against the Akaka Bill as well without insulting Americans because IMHO once they see and hear transparent Hawaiians who are passionate then they will understand and they will be on your side. (It is amazing what one person can do.)
Just saying.
E malama pono.
I have been pushing for the same thing that the people should be writing, e-mailing, faxing, whatever, to all the congresspeople, newspapers, their friends out-of-state to write to their congressperson to vote no to the bill. It seems the voice of two people representing the state has more influence than the purported beneficiuaries. We are always spoken of as in the third person with no voice. Their demands are considered and ours is ignored. The elite Hawaiian-Americans are the ones that will get their way and fulfill their pecuniary interests, power, and control. The rest of the people will suck kukae. That the name of their game.
We need to realize our "sovereignty groups" are political parties with their own platforms under the cloak of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and they are unified in our nationality as subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom; and why not, the U.S. has 22 recognized and registered political parties within their own country. We should ask them to coalesce in one movement to move the kingdom forward to fly in the faces of the enemy. People shouldn't shy away from joining in any of the groups or just remain independent but respect and accept the different parties within the Kingdom. This doesn't mean we are divided; but means we are diverse-thinking nationals like any other country.
If they pass the bill in their country, just don't comply with it. It's their internal and domestic bill and law that only affects Americans. It is plainly stated that one has to be a U.S. citizen to be included under their bill as a native American tribe. So, that lets Hawaii national/subjects out of the participaion and membership if their "governing entity". Another point is that if you are less than 50%, you most likely will fail to meet the requirement of membership in their tribe. This means a minority of American-Hawaiians will sell you out for their own selfish wants and most of you will suck wind.
If you think we have problems nows; wait till they pass this bill. It will be a new adversay that we will be fighting against as they try to negotiate our land, resources and autonomy away to the alleged State of Hawai'i, the Federal U.S. government and its military who will continue to dump their toxins on us.
If they get their way; it might be better to now decide where you will locate outside of Hawai'i as it will not be fit for human sustainability. Your keiki may not be able to survive healthwise and will be relegated to be a vagabond or nomad or prematurely dead. We will have no control over that situation as it is already happening under the U.S. watch. They have always considered Hawaii as expendable.
So, you decide how much you want to preserve our 'aina, nation, and keiki.