Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 6, 1 Iune 2006 — GO TIME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

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Senate vote on federal recognition bill expected in early June By Derek Ferrar Public lnformation Specialist Supporters of Hawaiian federal recognition legislation have geared up for what they hope will be the final push to get the long-stalled Akaka Bill passed, after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he would schedule a vote in early lune on whether to force the bill onto the Senate floor. If such a "cloture motion" succeeds, the Senate will have a limited time to debate the hill, formally called the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, before it is required to take a final up-or-down vote ■

on the measure. Sen. Daniel Akaka, the bill's namesake and primary sponsor, said in a / statement that he was looking for- / ward to the opportunity to finally / move ahead with the hill. "This is an issue of importance to all of the I people of Hawai 'i, and not a native \ versus non-native issue," he said. \« "Rather, this is about authorizing a ' process for the people of Hawai'i to be able to address longstanding issues resulting from a tragic, poignant period in our history. This is about

establishing parity for Hawai'i's indigenous people in federal policies [and] clarifying the existing poliīieal and legal relationship between Native Hawaiians and the United States .... Passing this hill will make it right." The hill would formally acknowledge Hawaiians' special status as an indigenous people, and would establish a process for official U.S. recognition of a future Native Hawaiian government. Supporters of the

hill - including OHA's Board of Trustees, Gov. Linda Lingle, the Hawai'i state Legislature, labor unions, the American Bar Association and many others, say it is needed to defend against lawsuits by those who seek to have Hawaiian-preference programs abolished as being unconstitutionally "race-based." Opponents of the hill include conservative eonunentators who say it is racially biased and would lead to a broader "Balkanization" of the United States, as well as Hawaiian sovereignty activists who say the hill represents formal submission to the U.S. and would undermine, not help, true Hawaiian self-determination. Those who oppose the hill have also ramped up their efforts in anticipation of a vote. In late May, the Libertarian-conservative Hawai'i "think tank" the Grassroot Institute released another "push poll" purporting to show that two-thirds of Hawai'i residents oppose the measure. It is widely accepted, however, that such polls are unscientific and designed primarily to promote the sponsor's position, rather than to truly gauge puhlie opinion. Polls commissioned

by OHA from reputable Hawai'i polling , firms using standard methodologies \ have consistently shown broad sup- \ port for the bill. Frustrated by delays Akaka first proposed a recogniJ tion measure in 2000, in the wake / of the U.S. Supreme Court's Rice f decision, whieh declared OHA's Hawaiians-only elections unconstitutional in the absence of any federally recognized indigenous status for Hawaiians. But for the 1 ast

several years, the measure has been blocked by procedural holds placed by several Republican Senators who oppose the hill. In accordance with a bargain struck earlier with the Senate leadership, a cloture vote was scheduled to force the measure to the floor in early September, but the vote was put off at the last minute after Hurricane Katrina struck. Frustrated by the ongoing delays, Akaka announced

in early May that he would be speaking about the hill daily on the Senate floor until it was scheduled for a vote. Shortly afterward, OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona and Administrator Clyde Nāmu'o visited Frist in Washington to discuss the hill with him firsthand. Several days after the meeting, Akaka announced that Frist intended to introduce a cloture motion on the hill soon after Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess. As Ka Wai Ola went to press, the vote was expected for the first week in lune. Sixty of the Senate's 100 members would have to vote in favor of the motion for the hill to proceed to a final debate and an up-or-down vote. Akaka and Sen. Daniel Inouye have said in the past that they believe they have the support of enough senators to pass cloture. If the hill were to then pass the Senate, it would be sent to the House of Repesentatives for approval. The House has been supportive of the measure in the past, but some observers think it might face more opposition now. And, they say, time is growing short for the House to even schedule the measure before the end of the eongressional term. If passed by both houses of Congress, the hill would need to be signed into law by President Bush, who has never taken an official position on federal recognition for Hawaiians. Lingle to lobby in D.C. Gov. Linda Lingle, who has lobbied her Republican colleagues frequently in favor of the hill, announced that she will onee again travel to Washington to lend her support during the Senate vote, after speaking with Akaka and receiving a letter from Apoliona requesting her to do so. Apoliona said in her letter to Lingle that there may be some Republican senators who might need to be "reassured by you" in the wake of a controversial U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report calling the hill discriminatory. Two commission members, however, strongly disputed the report in a puhlie statement. (See story helow.) In mid-May, Lingle also sent a letter to all 55 Republican senators asking them to support the hill and criticizing the Civil Rights Commission report. S

NŪ HOU • NEWS

Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka