Gov. Linda Lingle testified today before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, saying the so-called Akaka bill "is vital to the survival of the Native Hawaiian people." Photos by Bill Clark • Gannett News Service

Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, called the bill "the most vital single piece of legislation" for Hawai'i since statehood in 1959.

The committee's chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the panel would vote next week on the bill, sponsored by Hawai'i's two senators, giving some impetus to a measure that has stalled in the past three sessions of Congress.

The legislation would formally recognize the country's 400,000 Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people and set up a process under which a Native Hawaiian governing entity could negotiate with federal and state governments over land, resources and other assets.

Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, sponsor of a companion bill in the House with Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, called it "the most vital single piece of legislation" for Hawai'i since statehood in 1959.

Self-determination for Native Hawaiians has become a more prominent issue since Congress in 1993 passed the "Apology Resolution" in which the United States acknowledged wrongdoings in the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893 and recognized the inherent sovereignty of the indigenous islanders over their land.

Self-determination, said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawa'ii, a Native Hawaiian and author of the Senate bill with his colleague, Sen. Daniel Inouye, "holds the promise for all of us in Hawai'i to come to terms with Hawai'i's unique and often painful history."

Akaka said Lingle's support demonstrates that addressing the conditions of Hawai'i's indigenous peoples is a nonpartisan priority.

"The aloha spirit, for which the people of Hawai'i are known, is grounded in the culture and tradition of Hawai'i's indigenous peoples," Akaka said. "For that reason, Hawai'i's citizens, whether or not they are Native Hawaiian, appreciate and support efforts to preserve the culture and tradition of Native Hawaiians.

"A large majority of Hawai'i's residents support our efforts to enact this bill — because it is the right thing to do for Native Hawaiians and for the people of Hawai'i," he said.

Akaka said his bill provides the structure for a process of reconciliation between Native Hawaiians and the United States called for in the 1993 Apology Resolution.

After the hearing, Akaka said he was very pleased that the Hawai'i witnesses were able to address McCain's concerns, said his press secretary, Donalyn Dela Cruz.

Akaka was "pleasantly surprised" with McCain's announcement of a prompt committee vote on the bill, and is optimistic it will win approval, Dela Cruz said.

Inouye submitted testimony supporting the bill, commonly known as the Akaka bill. He did not attend the hearing because he has a cold, said his press secretary, Mike Yuen.

"This distinct status of the Native Hawaiian people is so widely accepted as part of the fundamental societal fabric of Hawai'i, that it is not at all surprising that all of the citizens came together in 1978 to amend the state's constitution to establish the Office of Hawaiian Affairs — in order to assure that Native Hawaiians would have a distinct voice in the government of Hawai'i," Inouye said in his prepared testimony.

The legislation in the past has been held up over such issues as whether it would sanction race-based preferences, an argument that Lingle refuted.

McCain, who said he was keeping an open mind on the legislation, expressed concern that self-governance could result in depleting already inadequate federal funds for American Indian programs.

But Lingle and others testifying, including the chairwoman of the state's Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Haunani Apoliona, and Jade Danner of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, gave assurances that the costs would be minimal.