Blog

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: July 7, 2010

Contact: Jesse Broder Van Dyke
202-441-0767 / jesse_brodervandyke@akaka.senate.gov

AKAKA, INOUYE, LINGLE REACH AGREEMENT ON
NATIVE HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION ACT

Honolulu, Hawaii -
Today U.S. Senators Daniel K. Akaka and Daniel K. Inouye announced that
they
have reached an agreement with Governor Linda Lingle that will secure
the
Governor’s full support for the Native Hawaiian Government
Reorganization
Act. Senator Akaka spoke with Attorney General Mark Bennett late Friday

and with the White House this morning before announcing the agreement.

Senators Akaka and
Inouye will offer an amendment that will make changes affecting the
powers and
authorities of the Native Hawaiian governing entity during the period
before
legislation is enacted to implement agreements reached during three
party
negotiations. Although the current bill which passed the U.S. House of
Representatives in February was drafted in consultation with the state
and
included nearly all of its proposed amendments, there were a few
unresolved
issues. The amendment announced today addresses the state’s outstanding

concerns.

“The Hawaii
Congressional Delegation has received and considered many
recommendations for
revising and strengthening the bill since we began this process,” said
Akaka. “After a thorough review of the State’s most recent proposal, I
determined that the changes will not diminish the bill’s intent to
establish a
federally recognized government-to-government relationship with the United
States. I believe these changes
will
help secure additional votes in the Senate to overcome procedural
hurdles and
receive an up-or-down vote on the bill. We need to act quickly to
ensure
the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law this year. I remain
optimistic that the United States will finally extend federal
recognition to
Native Hawaiians and end over a century of inequality in its treatment
of its
indigenous peoples.”

The amendment will
make changes to Section 9 of the bill. The changes will ensure that
during
the interim period the Native Hawaiian governing entity will be subject
to the
state’s regulatory authority affecting public health and safety, until a

temporary agreement is reached between the entity and state and approved
by the
Secretary of the Interior. It will also make clear that the Native
Hawaiian governing entity’s officers and employees will not be immune
from the
state’s criminal laws.

The text of the amendment is
available here: LINK

The text H.R. 2314 as passed by
the House of Representatives in February is available here: LINK

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