Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1986 — Inouye Monitors U.S. Measures, Activities Affecting Hawaiians [ARTICLE]

Inouye Monitors U.S. Measures, Activities Affecting Hawaiians

By Wendy Roylo Hee Planning and Development Officer Federal legislation and activities affecting Hawaiians eontinue to be monitored by Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Inouye who has been able to help Hawaiians through his active participation as a member of major committees. Among them are Appropriations (including its subcommittees on Defense; Foreign Operations; Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; Military Construction; and State, Justice, Commerce and Judiciary); Commerce, Science and Transportation (including subcommittees on Merchant Marines, Communications, Aviation; and National Oeean Policy Study); Rules and Administration, and Joint Committee on the Library. He also sits on the Select Committee on Indian Affairs whieh is very important to the Hawaiian community since these programs are for native Americans but currently restricted to the Indian and Alaskan communities only. According to Sen. Inouye, the following are legislation affecting Hawaiians under consideration by the U.S. Senate. These measures must also be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed by the President before becoming law. Senate Report 99-151 (Fiscal Year 1986 Appropriations Bil! for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education), whieh: a. Includes Hawaiians in training and employment services programs for disadvantaged native Americans under the Department of Labor; b. Directs the Bureau of Health Care Delivery and Assistanee to work with Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate to ensure that the needs of Hawaiians are addressed under the 15 percent set-aside, maternal and chi!d health block grant; e. Provides grants and contracts to nursing schools and other institutions to develop innovative nursing methods for treating high risk groups, including Hawaiians; d. Urges Nahonal Cancer Institute to give high priority to

unique needs of Hawaiians; e. Makes funds available for the National Institute of Aleohol Abuse and Alcoholism to support research projects addressing Hawaiians; f. Directs the Office of Human Development Services to assist Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate in establishing a series of parent-child centers throughout the State; g. Encourages the Department of Education to support projects targeted to gifted and talented children, including Hawaiians; h. Sets aside 0.25 percent of the vocational education basic grant appropriations for Hawaiians; i. Urges the Department of Education to explore how it ean help Hawaiians increase enrollment in institutions of higher learning; j. Sets aside two percent of the public library services program funds for Indian tribes and Hawaiians; k. Sets aside $360,000 under the interlibrary cooperation program for lndian tribes and Hawaiians; and 1. Sets aside $500,000 under the public library construction program for lndian tribes and Hawaiians. Senate Bill 277 (Indian Health Care Amendments of 1985, reported from the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs) whieh: a. Includes Hawaiians in the Health Professions Scholarship Program; b. Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a comprehensive study of the unique health care needs of Hawaiians; and e. Authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a health promotion and disease prevention demonstration program for whieh $500,000 has been appropriated for eaeh of the fiscal years 1986, 1987 and 1988. OHA will continue to work with our Congressional delegation in tracking the progress of these and other federal activities that directly affect the Hawaiian community.

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