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Congressional Quarterly: "House OKs Recognition of Native Hawaiians"

October 24, 2007

CQ TODAY - LEGAL AFFAIRS
Oct. 24, 2007 - 4:14 p.m.

By Avery Palmer, CQ Staff

The House passed a bill Tuesday that would allow federal recognition of Native Hawaiians as a distinct group, but the vote fell short of the total needed to override a threatened White House veto.

The bill (HR 505) passed, 261-153. Under the legislation, Native Hawaiians could establish a "governing entity" that would represent them in negotiations with federal and state governments.

The entity could not make any laws and would not be recognized as an American Indian tribe. But the measure would establish an office within the Department of the Interior for Native Hawaiian relations.

The measure is the latest in a string of attempts to grant indigenous Hawaiians legal status similar to that of American Indian tribes. The bill's backers see it as keeping a pledge for reconciliation that was part of a 1993 congressional apology for U.S. complicity in the 1893 overthrow of Hawaii's independent monarchy.

"This creates the opportunity for Native Hawaiians to take responsibility for their own actions with regard to the control and administration of their own assets," said Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, sponsor of the measure.

Supporters say the bill is necessary to provide legal backing for government initiatives that benefit Native Hawaiians. Nick J. Rahall II, D-W.Va., who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, said the legislation would "codify the government-to-government relationship with the native people of Hawaii."

But the White House issued a statement Oct. 22 threatening to veto the bill, saying it would discriminate on the basis of race.

Some conservatives maintain that the bill would lead to the application of different codes of law in Hawaii to different races. Also, they say Congress cannot create what amounts to an American Indian tribe where none exists.

"The federal government should not and cannot create a new Indian tribe for ethnic Hawaiians. Congress does not have this power," said Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga. He said the bill "sets a frightening precedent for separating groups based on racial backgrounds."

But other lawmakers said Congress should give deference to Hawaii's congressional delegation and the state's Republican governor, Linda Lingle.

"It's as much a state question as a national one, and we ought to respect as conservatives the wishes of people at the state level," said Tom Cole, R-Okla., a member of the Chickasaw Nation and the only American Indian in Congress.

The House rejected, 178-235, a motion to recommit by Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., that would have required the bill to be amended to make the governing entity subject to the Bill of Rights and to federal civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, to the same extent as a state or local government.

Abercrombie opposed the motion because he was unsure of its legal implications. "We haven't had a chance to sit down and go over this," he said. "The bill itself deals with all these issues on civil rights."

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved a companion bill (S 310) in May, sponsored by Democrat Daniel K. Akaka, the first person of Native Hawaiian heritage to represent the state in Congress.

After years of pushing, Akaka last year persuaded Senate leaders to put his bill on the floor, but an effort to limit debate on the motion to proceed to its consideration fell four votes short of the 60 needed.

Source: CQ Today
Round-the-clock coverage of news from Capitol Hill.
© 2007 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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October 2007

 
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