WASHINGTON — Chances are slim that the Senate will vote on the Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill before the end of the year, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka said yesterday.

Akaka, D-Hawai'i, sponsor of the bill, said he and U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, were still pressuring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to follow through on his promise for a vote, but the year-end crush of legislative business may keep the bill off the floor.

"Frist is sincere, but you know how tough it is when time is running out," Akaka said.

Akaka's comments came during a briefing on the bill's status to Gov. Linda Lingle, four trustees of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the state's two congressmen and other House members.

"It's been such a disappointment," Oswald Stender, a trustee with OHA, said about the continued delay in a Senate vote.

Collette Machado, another trustee, said she believes Native Hawaiians have been waiting too long for recognition from the federal government.

"I'm very disappointed," she said.

Stender, Machado, OHA Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona and Rowena Akana, another trustee, were in Washington lobbying for the bill.

But Apoliona said the group "continued to be optimistic" about an eventual vote on the bill and its passage.

"We're hopeful for that to occur," she said. "We will persevere."

The bill, which is being blocked by a group of conservative Senate Republicans, would allow Native Hawaiians to form their own government.

Opponents say such an idea is unconstitutional because it would create a race-based government.

In the summer, Frist committed to bring the bill to the floor for a vote in early September. Dealing with the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court forced an indefinite delay.

Akaka said he and Inouye have been working "diligently every day" to get Frist to follow through and schedule a vote on the measure, "but we're not there yet."

"Every day, we've been talking to him (Frist)," Akaka said. "I think he is looking for a place (on the Senate calendar) to try to put it."

Akaka said the Senate now is tentatively scheduled to work through today, maybe into the weekend, and then return Dec. 5 or Dec. 12 for another week of work.

He said he also has asked Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a co-sponsor of the bill, to help by speaking with Frist about scheduling a vote.

"He said he would," Akaka said. "I'm banking on that and his status within the Republican Party. I haven't heard back from him yet."

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.