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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Posted on: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Posted on: Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Akaka bill likely to be heard before August recess

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Staff Writer

Office of Hawaiian Affairs chairwoman Haunani Apoliona, left, and Kilikina Kekumano chatted before a House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday.

LISA NIPP | Gannett News Service

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Gov. Linda Lingle met with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to discuss the Akaka bill at his office on Capitol Hill yesterday. The bill, which would recognize Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people and set up a process for Hawaiians to establish their own government, has suffered delays by some GOP senators.

YURI GRIPAS | Associated Press

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Gov. Linda Lingle met with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to discuss the Akaka bill at his office on Capitol Hill yesterday. The bill, which would recognize Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people and set up a process for Hawaiians to establish their own government, has suffered delays by some GOP senators.

YURI GRIPAS | Associated Press

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist indicated yesterday that a Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill would soon come up for debate, giving some renewed optimism to Hawai'i senators who have tried to calm Republican opposition and bring the bill to a vote this week.

Frist, R-Tenn., in comments on the Senate floor just before the chamber adjourned for the evening, listed the bill as among the issues senators would consider before its August recess.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, used the floor session last night to speak with Republicans whose objections have stalled the bill this week. At least two Republican senators have apparently used their discretion under Senate powers to hold the bill until their concerns are satisfied, while others have suggested unrelated amendments, including, at one point, an apology for American Indians.

Holds are often anonymous, but one Republican, U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., confirmed through a spokesman yesterday that he was holding the bill to take a closer look at any possible impact on gambling. Meanwhile, tribal leaders from Oklahoma who support the bill had contacted the office of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in the belief that he might be holding it over its potential impact on federal money for Indian tribes. Coburn's staff could not be reached for comment.

The Akaka bill would recognize Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people and set up a process for Hawaiians to establish their own government. Akaka does not believe the issues raised by Republicans over the past few days are insurmountable and said a floor debate may be imminent. "I've been telling (Frist), 'Let's not talk about next week.' I want it this week," Akaka said.

In separate negotiations yesterday, state Attorney General Mark Bennett and aides to Akaka, U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., met with U.S. Department of Justice and White House officials to discuss the administration's concerns.

The Justice Department, in a letter to McCain last week, asked senators for more explicit language ensuring a Native Hawaiian government would not interfere with U.S. military facilities or have any gambling rights. The bill clearly does not authorize Native Hawaiians to conduct gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, but some believe Hawaiians could later claim an inherent right to do so. The department also wanted lawmakers to clarify how criminal laws would be enforced on Native Hawaiian land.

The most difficult issue, which is still being negotiated, is the Justice Department's request that the bill either preclude any financial claims by Hawaiians against the U.S. government or reduce the statute of limitations to less than the 20 years now in the bill.

Donalyn Dela Cruz, a spokeswoman for Akaka, said people involved in those negotiations believed they were making progress and could have consensus on new language in time for a floor debate.

Gov. Linda Lingle met with Republican senators yesterday at their caucus and said U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who has been the main Republican opponent to the Akaka bill, repeated a commitment to bring the bill to the floor before August.

The governor did not address the caucus but was able to speak with senators individually over lunch, which was also attended by Vice President Dick Cheney. She later talked with Kyl and Ensign.

"To his credit, Sen. Kyl is living up to his commitment to the Hawai'i senators to get this on the floor for a debate and a vote," Lingle said.

If Republican leaders do reach an agreement, Akaka and Kyl will probably each propose several amendments to the bill. Akaka will likely add some of the Justice Department's recommendations, while Kyl's amendments would likely involve his concerns about the bill's racial implications.

One amendment could prohibit a Native Hawaiian government from exercising government powers if citizenship is determined by race. Another might require that federal civil rights laws would continue to protect citizens of the new government.

Kyl has also said that the final form of a new government should go before all Hawai'i residents in a referendum. Akaka has said that voters would likely have to approve a constitutional amendment if the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands are folded into a new government, but the senator does not envision a referendum.

In a sign that his opposition has not softened, Kyl sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, that criticized Lingle\'s and Bennett\'s defense of the bill. Chabot held a hearing yesterday on the bill before the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution.

Kyl wrote that Lingle and Bennett, who are both Republicans, have not adequately addressed the core problems of the bill. "Indeed, they have offered no amendments or even any acknowledgement that the legislation is anything other than perfect as-is," he wrote.

"Congress has an obligation to all Americans, including but not limited to the residents of Hawai\'i, to demand more scrutiny of (the bill\'s) provisions, to insist on amendments that correct or mitigate its deficiencies, and — barring a complete overhaul of the unconstitutional and otherwise objectionable provisions — to defeat the legislation outright and refuse to permit it to become law."

Akaka said last night that he is also keeping his options open if it looks as if the delays might persist, including possibly placing holds on other bills as leverage.

"That\'s part of a kind of hardball move. I\'m going to talk to our leader to see what options we have on the hardball side," he said.