Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 2, 1 ʻAukake 1994 — Akaka responds to bill critics [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Akaka responds to bill critics

by Patrick Johnston Sen. Daniel Akaka has defended his introduction of Senate Bill 2174, legislation designed to set up a process to speed up compensation for

misuse of Hawaiian h o m e - lands by f e d e r a 1 and territorial governments between 1 9 2 1 -

1959. (See article in July Ka Wai Ola O OHA.) The state estimates the federal government deprived the homestead program of over S120 million in revenues from lost use and fee simple interest during the territorial period. Akaka's legislation was criticized by the Office of State Planning and the U.S. Department of the Interior who argued the legislation would disrupt present statefederal negotiations and ultimately delay the compensation process. OSP. the Attorney General's

office, DHHL, the lndependent Representative for the Beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. and the DOI have been in negotiations the past year to iron out an agreement, acceptable to the state and the Clinton administration, that could be presented as a bill to Congress. DOI special representative Miehael Heyman has indicated an agreement could be worked out this month. Akaka, in a written statement, defended the bill saying that at the legislation's first hearing, the Department of the Interior for the first time went on record that it would "look beyond the legal issues to moral arguments that the federal govemment failed to safeguard the interests of native Hawaiians when it misappropriated Lualualei and other Hawaiians homelands." Akaka also pointed out that the hearing brought out into the open discussions taking plaee between the state and the DOI and allowed native Hawaiians - the intended beneficiaries of the negotiations - to be a part of the discussions.

(Ed. note: All groups at the hill's hearing were there by invitation only. lt was not an open puhlie hearing.) Officials at the Office of State Planning agree that the inclusion of other Hawaiian groups - the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations and Hui Kāko'o both gave testimony at the

hearings - were important additions to the compensation negotiations but they noted that Edward King, the Independent Representative for the Beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, has been a part of the state negotiating team since it began its work. While not overly happy with

the Senator's bill, OSP officials have downplayed their initial negative reaction saying that, despite problems that might arise from the legislation, Akaka was a man "of great moial persuasion" in Congress and it was important to have him as part of the eompensation team.

Hawaiian homelands: the state believes the federal goverment owes millions from misuse of homestead land. Photo by Patrick Johnston