Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1995 — Clinton signs Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Clinton signs Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act

by Patrick Johnston The Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act is now law. On Nov. 2 Prcsident Clinton signed legislation that author Sen. Daniel Akaka hopes will begin the process of compensating the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) for federal govemment misuse of trust lands. Ten \ears after signing the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in 1921, the federal govemment, through executive aeūon, took back approximately 1 ,400 acres of homestead land without eompensating the trusL The Recovery Act - tagged on as an amendment to the Alaskan Native Bill H.R. 402 - atfempts to correct this misappropriation by creating a mechanism to determine how the trust should be compensated then following through with land transfers.. The Act would authorize an appraisal of the misappropriated home lands and calculate how mueh ineome was lost during the period the land was under federal control. When the appraisal is completed, DHHL would have the right

to acquire federal lands in Hawai'i equal in value to the lands taken by the federal government. DHHL could also be eompensated in land for the value of ineome lost. "For 60 years, the federal government has had the moral obligation to provide compensation for Lualualei and other home lands that were wrongfully taken," Sen. Akaka said in a statement. "This moral authority has now been given the force of law." However, the legislation has been criticized for having too many restrictions on the type of lanei actually available to DHHL. For example, the bill states that all "federal lands that generate ineome (or would be expected to generate ineome)" for the federal govemment are excluded. In an opinion pieee published in the Honolulu Advertiser former Hawaiian Homes Commission attorney Paul Alston writes, "This is Congress-speak for saying: No federal lands ean be exchanged. What they gave with one hand, they took with the other." In a statement, Akaka has responded to the criticisms by saying budget p>olicies are in plaee that will allow the compensation

process to be carried out. "The Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act takes advantage of federal budget policies whieh assign zero cost to land owned by the govemment. It is this zero-cost-for-land policy that will allow the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands lo receive federal real estate as compensation." Akaka adds that in the past ten years there have been "eight transfers of fedei"al land in Hawai'i - at no cost — and a ninth transfer is now being processed." Akaka aide Esther Kiaaina, while recognizing that some of the language may appear to throw a wrench into future negotiations, says it was necessary to include it to make the legislation palatable to Congress. She says, however, that this should not detract from the importance of the legislation. "The bill establishes the authority" to begin negotiations Kiaaina points out, adding that it is now up to DHHL to determine with the federal government what kind of land is available for use by Hawaiian Homes. Akaka said that only 24 hours after the bill was signed, DHHL Chairman Kali Watson met with officials at the Department of the Interior and pledged to "quickly establish a value for the lost home lands."

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President Clinton with Congressional delegates at a Nov. 2 White House signing ceremony for the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act. From left to right: Rep. Patsy Mink; Rep. Neil Abercrombie; Lt. Governor Mazie Hirono; Sen. Oaniel Akaka; Sen. Daniel lnouye; Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Sen. Ted Steven (R-AK); Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Chairman of the House Resources Committee; Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Native American and lnsular Affairs; and Rep. Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Native AMerican and lnsular Affairs.