Videos

Introducing bills to put a moratorium on the sale and/or transfer of ceded/stolen Hawaiian lands to counter Lingle's federal court appeal. If you support this concept (I haven't gotten a copy of the bill yet so haven't had an opportunity to review it). please prepare a press statement to be distributed to the press tomorrow at 10 am..at the state capitol room 423.as soon as Kaho'onei gets a copy of the bill we will forward it out for distribution and posting, review and comments.1-28-09 at 8:30am in room 423, Followed by Press Con. @ 10am Rm. 423we can go over the bill and stragegize...we would like to have the room filled with native Hawaiians with red shirts to provide support for the legislators introducing the bill...given the Gov. address yesterday, we have a lot of work to do...This is an opportunity to respond to the gov. statements...please feel free to forward, post and invite others to attend this press conference...Here's the excerpt relating to ceded lands from her address:".....Before concluding I want to take a moment to speak about the case pending before the United States Supreme Court involving the issue of ceded lands.The issue involved in this case is not whether ceded lands should or should not be sold.Rather the issue involves the fundamental question of whether the State of Hawai'i has clear title to the land transferred to us by the federal government at the time of statehood.The roots of this case date back to a decision made by former Governor Waihe'e in the 1980s to sell certain ceded lands on Maui and Hawai'i for the construction of affordable housing.It was a decision he believed was in the best interest of all the people of Hawai'i.It is a decision that former Governor Cayetano defended in court because he believed it was in the best interest of all the people of Hawai'i to do so.And it is a decision that we are appealing to the United States Supreme Court because I believe it is in the best interest of all the people of Hawai'i.Acting in the best interest of all the people is the same standard I applied when supporting the Akaka Bill, fighting to protect federal programs benefiting native Hawaiians, or expediting Hawaiian Homestead leases.And I will continue to advocate for these issues in the coming years just as passionately as I have in years past.I call upon all who cherish what is the essence of Hawai'i to come together with a willingness to understand and respect the nature of this case and its importance to the future of our state.Our current fiscal crisis and the ceded lands issue arise during the same year that we commemorate our 50th anniversary as a state.