By Susan Roth
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Hawai‘i Democratic Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink reintroduced the Native Hawaiian recognition bill in the House yesterday along with a bipartisan group of powerful co-sponsors.
Democratic Sens. Daniel Akaka, who has led the legislative effort, and Daniel Inouye refiled the same bill in the Senate last month. Abercrombie said he initially was planning to do the same thing in January, but decided to wait to shore up the new effort with co-sponsors.
They include Republicans James Hansen of Utah, chairman of the House Resources Committee, who helped move the bill on the House floor last year, and Don Young of Alaska, former chairman of the committee who helped Abercrombie get the bill passed.
The Democratic co-sponsors include Dale Kildee of Michigan, chairman of the House Native American Caucus; Nick Rahall of West Virginia, ranking member of the Resources Committee; and Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa.
The bill is identical to the one the senators and Abercrombie introduced last year, which passed the House but ran into a Republican roadblock in the Senate.
Akaka has said he believes that the 50-50 partisan split in the Senate and the bill’s early reintroduction will help the bill’s chances this year.
Mink’s co-sponsorship this year is significant because although she helped draft the bill, she publicly opposed it until it came to the House floor in September.
The bill would clarify the existing political relationship between the United States and Native Hawaiians, and aims to establish parity in federal policies toward all native American peoples: American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians.
The measure would set a federal process for Hawaiians to establish their own government within the state of Hawai‘i, similar to American Indian nations, which have government-to-government relations with the United States.
In the wake of last year’s Rice v. Cayetano Supreme Court decision, the bill also seeks to protect Hawaiian programs and services.
The court decision allowed non-Hawaiians to vote for trustees for the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Abercrombie noted that the bill has strong support from American Indian and Alaska Native groups, which also helped pass it in the House last year, and also from the Japanese American Citizens’ League, the National Education Association and the Hawai‘i Legislature.
"I’m very pleased at this lineup of support for the bill," Abercrombie said. "It demonstrates broad bipartisan support and the backing of the most respected members of the House on issues affecting indigenous peoples."
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