Many who have witnessed the tortuous advance and retreat of bills enabling federal recognition of Native Hawaiians would agree: The so-called Akaka Bill, named for sponsoring U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, stands its best chance of passage under the Obama administration.

The Hawai'i-born president has voiced support for the measure, which faces a House hearing on Thursday. Obama's support removes a major impediment, but another one has taken its place: distraction.

Although the political landscape has improved greatly — the Bush administration had found the Akaka Bill too racially divisive — the preoccupation at the White House and on Capitol Hill has been about responding to the economy and the wars on two fronts. Even among elected leaders who support the bill, the more worrisome burdens loom larger.

So the object should be to craft a bill that has a broad base of support at home and is unfettered by lightning-rod issues likely to get it shot down.

Fortunately, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 has been moving in that general direction over the past few months. For example, one provision that raised constitutional concerns has been deleted. It would have required that commissioners named to certify the genealogy of a Native Hawaiian electorate be indigenous Hawaiians themselves.

But the bills in House and Senate could exclude many part-Hawaiians who are unable to prove direct descent from a Native Hawaiian living here before 1893 or from a Hawaiian homestead beneficiary; spotty recordkeeping can make documentation impossible.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is right that the definition needs to be worded to be more inclusive of indigenous Hawaiian descendants.

The hope for the bill is sure to fade if it cannot pass in the next few months, before budgetary matters completely overwhelm the Congressional calendar.

The principle aim should be to pass a bill that gives the broadest swath of Native Hawaiians rights similar to those of other indigenous peoples. They should be able to govern and manage resources that, under a plethora of state and federal laws, belong to them.