RELEASED BY THE OFFICE OF SENATOR DANIEL K. INOUYE: 

WASHINGTON - Members of the Hawaii Congressional Delegation said today they are pleased to have worked for the inclusion of nearly $62.5 million in Native Hawaiian initiatives into the final appropriations measure for the current fiscal year, and they vowed to continue to champion Native Hawaiian programs. 

They said their advocacy of vital Native Hawaiian initiatives is even more crucial now because the President has eliminated Native Hawaiian education and health care projects from the administration's proposed budget for the next fiscal year.  The President's Fiscal Year 2008 budget also makes dreadfully wrong choices for many of Hawaii's working families of all backgrounds, they added.

Fortunately, the continuing funding resolution for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2007, includes funds for Native Hawaiian education, health care, and housing, said Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel K. Akaka, and Representatives Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono. 

The legislation cleared its final legislative hurdle the evening of Wednesday, February 14, 2007, when the Senate voted 81 to 15 for passage.  The measure, which was passed by the House of Representatives on January 31, 2007, by a vote of 286 to 140, now moves to the White House to be signed into law.

"Given the unfinished work of the 109th Congress under the previous majority, our nation's budget was left in terrible shape," said Senator Inouye, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  "Fortunately, we were able to rectify some of the shortcomings of the current budget as it pertains to Native Hawaiian initiatives.  Now, we must work to rectify the shortcomings of the administration's budget for Fiscal Year 2008."

U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka added: "I am pleased that Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, and the Democratic Party as a whole, came together to preserve vital health and education opportunities for Native Hawaiians.  This continuing resolution will benefit Hawaii's entire public health and educational infrastructure, and will help us continue to serve the state of Hawaii."

"We were able," U.S. Representative Neil Abercrombie said, "to rescue nearly $63 million in funding for Native Hawaiian health, housing, and education programs from the Republicans 2007 budget train wreck.  The Bush administration is trying to kill some of these programs in its 2008 budget request.  However, the Hawaii delegation is not about to let that happen."

U.S. Representative Mazie Hirono said: "Our delegation is together on the critical importance of continuing to fund Native Hawaiian programs.  Despite the decision of the Bush administration to zero out funding for Native Hawaiian education, I am confident that Hawaii's Congressional Delegation will be able to continue to secure funding for this and other important programs that impact the lives of Native Hawaiians."

The continuing funding resolution for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2007, includes:

* Nearly $34 million for Native Hawaiian education programs, under the No     Child Left Behind Act.

* Nearly $14 million for Native Hawaiian health care, under the Native     Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act.

* Nearly $9 million for Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grants

* Nearly $6 million through the Native Alaskan/Native Hawaiian Institutional     Aid provision of the Higher Education Act.

In addition to zeroing out some Native Hawaiian programs, the President's budget for the next fiscal year cuts retirement benefits for some 140,000 local residents; weakens traditional employer-sponsored health insurance, which cover 741,000 local workers and their families; and threatens Hawaii's 171,000 Medicare and 128,000 Medicaid patients with program cuts, delegation members said.