AKAKA BILL LITE
Aloha Kakou,
The State House of Representatives Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, chaired by Rep. Faye Hanohano, held a hearing today on HB 1627 -- a clone of the Akaka bill, modified for implementation by the State, instead of the Federal government.
Having failed for 10+ years to pass the infamous “federal recognition act” (Akaka bill), its chronic supporters, Akaka, Inouye, the Governor, OHA and DHHL, etc., now want the Fake State of Hawaii to ‘have a go’ at creating the “reorganized Native Hawaiian governing entity”...sort of an ‘Akaka bill lite.’
HB1627 is incredibly ridiculous on several levels, not the least of which is that the legislature of the State of Hawaii has no constitutional authority (either US or State) to spin off such a semi-autonomous governing body from itself. This is a pesky detail that apparently none of its advocates or legislators bothered to ask the attorney general or any other legal counsel. When you’re desperate, you make these kind of mistakes. Even as Hawaiian Nationals made them look silly (see the attached testimonies) the lawmakers were clueless.
The only one of the committee members that wondered whether the object of HB 1627 was legal or not was Rep. Gene Ward. Nevertheless, he accepted the beat-around-the-bush answer from one of the proponents and the committee passed the measure, patting themselves on the back for opening up dialog about this important topic.
Opening up dialog? Hello!? Where have you been over the past 10 years while the Akaka bill was raging in Congress and we were screaming about this scheme to subjugate the Hawaiian people into an Indian tribe? Oh that’s right, all hearings and debates were kept 5,000 miles away in Washington, D.C. No wonder Hawaii’s legislators are so ignorant about the true nature of this bill.
The good thing is now the debate is here where it belongs...where we can really sink our claws into it. ;-)
Malama pono,
Leon Siu
You need to be a member of maoliworld to add comments!
Replies