Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 11, 1 November 2004 — Senate vote on Akaka Bill promised for next year [ARTICLE]

Senate vote on Akaka Bill promised for next year

By Derek Ferrar After languishing for more than a year due to a procedural blockade by a single Republican senator, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (also known as S.344, or the Akaka Bill), failed to receive a vote by the full U.S. Senate prior to Congress' pre-election adjournment. However, before agreeing to drop the bill, Hawai'i's senators were able to secure promises from key Senate leaders and a prominent opponent — who was likely the one that blocked the measure — that the issue would receive a full Senate hearing after it is reintroduced in the next legislative cycle. "While I am disappointed that we could not reach an agreement for consideration of S. 344 prior to the adjournment of the 108th Congress, I feel good about

the commitment made today that we will no longer endure the procedural shenanigans that have prevented the Senate's consideration of this bill for the past five years," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, the bill's primary sponsor. "We will reintroduce the bill at the opening of the 109th Congress and work with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs ... so that we ean get to the Senate floor as soon as possible." Hawai'i's senators have said previously that they are confident they ean muster enough votes to pass the measure. In a joint announcement on Senate floor, Akaka and fellow Democratic Hawai'i Sen. Dan Inouye received assurances from Sens. Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) and Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) that they would no longer try to block the Hawaiian recognition bill from receiving a full Senate vote. Kyl, an outspoken opponent of the recognition bill, is widely See AKAKA on page 6

acknowledged as being behind the hold that had stymied the bill. Under Senate rules, any Senator ean hloek legislation using an anonymous hold. "I would express publicly my personal commitment to assist in (an) effort to ensure that no more procedural roadblocks would be thrown in the way of that legislation or a final vote," Kyl said. In return, Akaka and Inouye agreed to remove the recognition measure as an attachment to a funding package backed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, thus clearing the package for passage. Inouye had attached the Akaka Bill to the package as a final effort to gain a full Senate vote on Hawaiian recognition. Following the joint announeement, Senate leaders Bill Frist (R.-Tennessee) and Tom Daschle (D-North Dakota) penned letters pledging to ensure a full Senate hearing of the Akaka Bill before the close of the 109th Congress' first session next August. Both houses of Congress adjourned on Oct. 11 so members

could campaign for the Nov. 2 general election. Legislators are scheduled to return in midNovember for a short "lame duck" session, but the scope of their work is likely to be limited to a few key measures already near completion. ■

"While I am disappointed that we could not reach an agreement for consideration of S. 344 prior to the adjournment of the 108th Congress, I feel good about the commitment made today that we will no longer endure the procedural shenanigans that have prevented the Senate's consideration of this bill for the past five years." — Sen . Daniel Akaka

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