WASHINGTON — The Obama administration came through on its promise to support Native Hawaiian self-governance yesterday with a powerful statement to a Senate panel, backing a bill that would give Native Hawaiians the same rights as Native Americans and Alaskans.

The full-throated endorsement came from Sam Hirsch, deputy associate attorney general, to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

The panel was weighing nine-year-old legislation, authored by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, that would set up a process for Native Hawaiian autonomy within the state and federal systems.

"The Department of Justice strongly supports the core policy goals of this bill, and I am pleased to testify on this historic legislation," Hirsch said.

He rejected arguments that political recognition of Native Hawaiians would constitute a "race-based" distinction. He said that the federal government had an obligation to establish a government-to-government relationship with the Native Hawaiian people, who have been living in political limbo for more than a century following the overthrow of their kingdom.

"The general history of the Native Hawaiian people bears significant similarities to the history of Indian tribes," he said. "The United States has recognized the Kingdom of Hawai'i as a sovereign power and dealt with it as such through much of the 19th century."

This was a stark turnaround from the Bush administration. In 2006, the Justice Department under President George W. Bush argued that the so-called Akaka bill would "divide people by their race."

In a June House hearing on the Akaka legislation, a Bush appointee suggested that Native Hawaiian recognition could lead to some form of mild sedition.

"It is clear that many ethnic Hawaiians will not regard the new government as deriving its powers solely from federal delegation," said Gail Heroit, a Republican appointee on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. "Rather, they will argue that it derives its power from their own inherent sovereignty and is thus not subject to any of the limitations on power found in the U.S. Constitution."

AN ISSUE OF PARITY

Yesterday, Akaka sought to bring the debate back to its central pivot point: that Native Hawaiians are no different from any other indigenous people who have political contracts with the federal government.

"The legislation before us today provides parity," he said. "It enables Hawai'i's indigenous people to establish a government-to-government relationship with the United States. The process is consistent with Constitution, federal and state law."

Eventually, it could give Native Hawaiians greater control over their highly valuable ancestral lands.

The Akaka legislation would develop a process for reorganizing a Native Hawaiian government.

If it passes in the Indian Affairs Committee, as expected, then the full Senate would take it up. Passage in the heavily Democratic House is virtually assured.

But even if the Akaka bill passes, it remains potentially vulnerable to court challenges. Civil rights legislation is typically challenged for years after passage.

In 2000, the Supreme Court shot down special privileges Native Hawaiians enjoyed in special elections for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, threatening a vast network of Native Hawaiian political and social structures.

9 YEARS OF TRYING

Yesterday's Senate hearing marks the seventh time Congress has taken up the legislation since it was first introduced in 2000.

The bill has already passed the House twice but has never been able to clear the Senate, where legislation can sometimes require 60 of 100 votes to pass and a single senator can place a hold on a bill.

Akaka said he expects he'll need 60 votes to pass the bill.

At stake — in addition to the political future of the Native Hawaiian people — ultimately is control over some 1.8 million acres of land that many Native Hawaiians believe was taken from them illegally in the annexation of Hawai'i in 1898.

Passage of the Akaka bill would provide for negotiations on the disposition of Native Hawaiian land, natural resources and other assets.