WASHINGTON — At the time, it seemed like a breakthrough.

The leaders of the U.S. Senate promised last fall they would use their "best efforts" to bring a Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill to the floor for a vote by August, possibly ending five years of Republican delays. U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, agreed in return to lift his threat to attach the bill to a package of energy-related bills that were pending, which would have likely stalled debate on projects important to more than two dozen members of the Senate.

The deal had defused a confrontation that is common in the Senate, where grace and collegiality often mask the sharp displays of power available to individual senators under the chamber's rules and traditions.

But with just a week to go before an August recess, several Republicans have again tried to delay the recognition bill from coming to the floor, leaving Inouye and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, to ask whether Republican leaders will risk breaking their word.

"In this body, a promise is a promise," said Inouye, who has served longer than all but two other senators and who is among the top Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which oversees federal spending.

Inouye has said he would try to force a vote next week on the recognition bill if as many as six Republican holds are not lifted. A cloture motion requires the support of 60 senators and, as Inouye said, could "put a monkey wrench in the whole operation" by interrupting other work.

Akaka, who is known for his aloha rather than his aggression, has contemplated going after other senators' bills if the recognition bill does not come up soon.

"We have worked for many, many years here just trying to get it on the floor. And we're disappointed that this has not happened," Akaka said.

The escalation has put some pressure on two of the Republicans who signed off on the October agreement, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who has been the Senate's leading opponent of Native Hawaiian recognition.

The agreement was not a guarantee, but Kyl did make a personal commitment to Inouye and Akaka to talk to other Republican senators to ensure that procedural roadblocks — such as the Republican holds that have stopped the bill this week — would not occur.

A spokesman for Frist said yesterday the Republican leader would bring the bill to the floor if the holds were released. "We are working to uphold the agreement," said spokesman Nick Smith.

Kyl told The Advertiser last night that most of the issues raised by Republican senators who have holds on the bill could either be solved through negotiation or addressed by allowing more Republican amendments to be debated when the bill is heard on the floor.

Republicans have cited the potential for gambling and financial claims against the United States if Native Hawaiians are allowed to form their own government, although many Republicans, including Kyl, reject the entire premise of recognition as unconstitutional racial separation.

Kyl said he wants to honor the commitment made to Inouye and Akaka and urged the bill's supporters to negotiate over the next few days with the Republicans who have holds.

"I've felt a lot of pressure," Kyl said. "And I have spent untold hours getting it done. But like I said, I'm a little put out now. I'm doing all the work and I'm not getting any help."

Kyl said that while a debate or vote on the bill next week is unlikely, it would be "very possible" to reach a consent agreement and set the terms for a debate after the Senate returns from recess in September.

"Everybody knows where the problem areas are," Kyl said. "I can't make miracles happen, so help me out."

Gov. Linda Lingle, who returned to Honolulu on Wednesday after meeting with Republican senators and White House officials here this week, said she had also heard some discussion of a consent agreement for a debate in September.

"Those who are successful in getting something through Congress are those who never, ever give up," Lingle said after attending a luncheon in Waikiki. "And that's simply how we have to approach this. If you put this into the context of the past couple of years, we're farther along than we've ever been before."

Inouye and Akaka had wanted a vote before the August recess both because Republicans had made a promise and because of the Senate's calendar. After senators return in September, they may only be in session for several more weeks, when work on spending bills and the possible confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice may consume most of their time.

Late action on the bill would also make it more difficult for it to move this year in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case, both Hawai'i Democrats, are awaiting the outcome in the Senate.

Some Native Hawaiians who oppose the bill said what has happened here over the past few days should be another warning to Hawaiians against seeking relief from the U.S. government.

"Our position is we can't trust the whole colonial establishment because it dominates and exploits and subjugates us," said Kekuni Blaisdell, a sovereignty activist. "Self-determination means we decide. With the Akaka bill, the government has already decided for us."