Posted on: Tuesday, July 24, 2001

Native bill returns to Senate

By Susan Roth
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The Native Hawaiian recognition bill easily passed the Senate Indian Affairs Committee by voice vote as expected today, with no questions or objections.

That doesn't necessarily mean the measure will have equally smooth sailing on the Senate floor this fall, however. Hawai'i Democratic Sens. Daniel Akaka, who led the effort on the bill, and Dan Inouye, committee chairman, acknowledged that the bulk of their work lies ahead.

"We know you can never get 100 percent," Akaka said afterward, "but we feel strongly that we have the majority of the Native Hawaiian community on our side. We will be working on it in the Senate. We will work with the leadership first in scheduling the bill on the floor, and then we will work to inform our colleagues about it."

Akaka said the fact that the Democrats now have a majority in the Senate, albeit a slim one, makes "a huge difference. I feel there is more weight on our side because of that one vote, and it is a big psychological difference."

Inouye said he did not feel that much of a difference, as "the players are the same," and any one senator can hold up a bill. He expects the bill to hit the floor in October.

Last year the measure passed the House and the Senate committee only to stall on the Senate floor, blocked by a small group of conservative Republicans who said they believed it would create unfair advantages for Native Hawaiians.

The bill aims to clarify the political relationship between Native Hawaiians and the United States government by extending the federal policy of self-determination and self-governance to Hawaiians.

Only three members of the committee attended the meeting and voted on the bill: Inouye, Akaka and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., the former chairman and now ranking Republican on the panel.