"I'm very pleased to see that this has not become a partisan issue and that it has not ended up dividing us," Abercrombie said on the floor.

But at the same time, an e-mail alert from House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, labeled the bill unconstitutional because it would guarantee special federally backed housing benefits to Native Hawaiians.

The bill would reauthorize Native Hawaiian housing assistance programs administered by the Housing and Urban Development Department. The program's authorization expired in 2005 but had been kept alive through spending bills.

The House rejected the bill on a 262-162 vote — 28 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage under a special procedure that limits debate on noncontroversial legislation. The vote tally shows 228 Democrats and 34 Republicans supported the bill while 162 Republicans opposed it.

The Republican alert said the bill would give Native Hawaiians an arrangement like that between the federal government and Native American tribes.

The alert stated the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Native Hawaiians are not comparable to American Indian tribes and "suggested that special legal privileges for Native Hawaiians are rightly unconstitutional."

Meanwhile, on the floor, Abercrombie remained grateful, and apparently unaware of the GOP missive.

"I want to reiterate my thanks to Mr. Boehner for his open-mindedness and his attitude of being willing to listen on issues that might otherwise have been easily misunderstood," Abercrombie said.