Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 1, 1 January 2010 — Akaka Bill advances, with changes in Senate committee [ARTICLE]

Akaka Bill advances, with changes in Senate committee

The Akaka Bill will head for consideration in the full House and Senate this year, after being approved in committees in December. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee passed S. 1011 on Dec. 17 with an amendment that would grant Native Hawaiians governing authority before, instead of after, negotiations with federal and state governments. The amendment would also treat Native Hawaiians as an Indian tribe in some cases. The House Natural Resources Committee approved H.R. 2314 in its original form Dec. 16 after Gov. Linda Lingle and state Attorney General Mark Bennett raised objections to the amendment. Bennett wrote a letter to House committee leaders, saying: "These changes may immediately incorporate into the law governing native Hawaiians a vast body of Indian law, mueh of whieh is unsuited for the state of Hawai'i, and none of whieh (to our knowledge) as been evaluated for its impact on Hawai'i." A statement released by Sen. Daniel Akaka, the bill's namesake, said the amendment reflected "months of negotiations with the Department of Justice." Akaka said he talked to both Lingle and Bennett on the day of the vote and thanked them for their years of strong support. "I know they have concerns about the bill that passed out of the committee today, and I am eommitted to working with them on these issues as we move forward," he said. In the same statement, Hawai'i's senior senator, Daniel Inouye, said he was "extremely pleased" by the bill's passage in committee. He added: "I am committed that before this bill is considered by the full Senate there will be a meaningful opportunity to address the state's concerns in concert with the Ohama administration and the Hawai'i congressional delegation. This is not a closed book. The time to act will be early in the new year, and we must move swiftly to ensure Native Hawaiians regain their rights of self-determination and self-gov-emanee."

poke nūhou ®"! llrit,!