Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 7, 1 Iulai 2006 — Federal recognition: what's next? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Federal recognition: what's next?

By Sterling Kini Weng Publicatinns Editnr With Akaka Bill supporters admitting that the measure is now effectively dead for this congressional session, Hawai'i's senators have shifted their innnediate efforts to developing new legislation that would protect federal and state programs that help Native Hawaiians without specifically addressing formal federal recognition of a future Hawaiian governing entity. Many of the Republican senators who opposed the Akaka Bill in the procedural vote on lune 8 said they objected to the creation of what they called a "race-based governmenf ' for Hawaiians. The possible new legislation would be intended as an interim shield to safeguard the approximately 160 federal programs that currently benefit Native Hawaiians, as well as state programs such as OHA and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

"While we wait for another opportunity (on the Akaka Bill), we would like to make certain that all the programs we have in plaee at this moment are not placed in jeopardy," Sen. Daniel Inouye told The Honolulu Advertiser, adding that he hoped to introduce the new hill before Congress breaks for its Fourth of Iuly recess. According to Inouye's office, the federal government has appropriated $1.2 hillion to support Native Hawaiian programs over the last 26 years, focusing on such areas as education, heahh services, housing and the restoration of Kaho 'olawe. Some fear that these federal monies, and similar state funds, may be in peril because of a series of lawsuits filed over the last decade that attack Native Hawaiian programs, claiming they are racially discriminatory. In addition, Republicans over the years have been singling out federal monies earmarked for

Hawaiian programs as possible line items that could be cut to reduce spending. One group that has taken up this effort is the Republican Study Coimnittee, an organization with a membership of more than 110 GOP members of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2005, the connnittee issued a report that reconnnended eliminating appropriations totaling up to $40 million for various Native Hawaiian heahh and education programs. The report stated that "Native Hawaiians are a racial group, not a tribe, and dispensing benefits to them would likely be subject to strict scrutiny in Federal courts." The savings gained from slashing the funding would amount to some $215 million over five years and $557 million over 10 years, according to the document. This March, the committee released another report listing a range of Hawaiian programs that h said could be wiped out because

they were "likely unconstitutional." Supporters of the Akaka Bill had hoped h would help prevent such challenges by affording Native Hawaiians a special federal status similar to the nation's other indigenous groups, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. OHA Administrator Clyde Nāmu'o said that the agency supports the idea of new legislative action that would preserve federal and state programs for Hawaiians, but that there are some questions about what kind of defense a hill that doesn't extend federal recognition could provide against legal challenges based on alleged violations of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. "Because we are not dealing with federal recognition, the question then is whether the programs we offer just to Hawaiians would be exempt and nmnune from the 14th Amendment," Nāmu'o said.

"That is what our lawyers are trying to figure out now - whether we ean do a law change that would assure that the constitution was not being violated." Nāmu'o said that Inouye is discussing with Sen. lon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona who is a major opponent of the Akaka Bill, to see if they ean agree on legislation that could shield Hawaiian programs from legal attacks. Meanwhile, as Ka Wai Ola went to press, OHA's trustees were conferring with legal advisors to determine, in light of the unsuccessful Akaka Bill vote, what the agency's next course of action will be in the struggle for Hawaiian self-determination and the protection of Hawaiian programs. "This is a setback, but the effort to achieve federal recognition must eonhnue," said Nāmu'o. "The additional time will give an opportunity to eonhnue our effort to organize the Hawaiian eonununity. 'Onipa'a (be steadfast)." S

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