OHA plans to barrage U.S. senators with letters

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian leaders are sending 140 letters backing the Akaka bill to each U.S. senator, hoping that a pile of letters and a humming fax machine greeting them after a three-day weekend will grab their attention.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs gathered 140 letters written by Hawaiians here and on the Mainland in support of the federal recognition bill, which would enable Hawaiians to create a "nation within a nation" to manage land and revenue in their control.

Copies of the 140 letters will be hand-delivered to senators' offices Tuesday, said OHA administrator Clyde Namu'o, and duplicates will be faxed.

Each senator will also receive a copy of Queen Lili'uokalani's book, "Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen."

"The goal was '100 letters for 100 senators,' " Namu'o said. "That was the theme for August, so that when they return on Sept. 2 we would have these letters piled up on their desks."

The timing, he said, couldn't be more perfect: Sept. 2 is the queen's birthday.