Chairman Hanabusa, Chairman Saiki, and committee members, mahalo for the opportunity to share information pertaining to S. 147, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act for 2005, legislation I have introduced with Hawaii's Congressional delegation to extend the federal policy of self-governance and self-determination to Native Hawaiians. I regret that I am unable to join you this morning. I had previously scheduled appointments with students on Maui that I was not able to reschedule upon learning of today's briefing late last week.
I have been informed that your committees are interested specifically in the prognosis of the legislation during the 109th Congress and in learning what the Hawaii State Legislature should do, if anything, after the enactment of the legislation. I thank you for your support for this bill. As you know, we have been working to enact this legislation since 1999. We appreciate the resolutions passed by the Hawaii State Legislature in support of federal recognition for Native Hawaiians. We have also been working very closely with Governor Linda Lingle to enact this measure. I have made clear to my colleagues in Washington, D.C. that this is a nonpartisan issue. This is a team effort and we greatly appreciate the efforts of everyone involved who is working to enact this bill.
BACKGROUND
Before I address your two questions regarding the bill, I'd like to provide some background on the legislation. S. 147, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, was introduced on January 25, 2005, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. On March 1, 2005, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on the legislation. Witnesses included Governor Lingle, who was accompanied by Hawaii State Attorney General Mark Bennett and Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair Micah Kane; Haunani Apoliona, Chair, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees; Jade Danner, Vice-President, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; Tex Hall, President, National Congress of American Indians; and Julie Kitka, President, Alaska Federation of Natives.
On March 9, 2005, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs voted to adopt a substitute amendment offered by myself, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, and Senator John McCain. The Committee also voted to favorably report the bill as amended. On March 18, 2005, Senator Inouye and I wrote to the Majority Leader Bill Frist and Democratic Leader Harry Reid to request that S. 147 be brought before the Senate for debate and a roll call vote at the earliest opportunity.
The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act does three things. It establishes the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations in the Department of the Interior to serve as a liaison between Native Hawaiians and the United States. It establishes the Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group to be composed of federal officials from agencies which administer Native Hawaiian programs. Both of these provisions are intended to increase coordination between the Native Hawaiians and the federal government. And third, the bill provides a process of reorganization of the Native Hawaiian governing entity. I am very proud of the fact that while the bill provides structure to the process, it also provides the Native Hawaiian community with the flexibility to truly reorganize its governing entity.
The substitute amendment, which was adopted by the Committee on March 9, 2005, further clarified that the enactment of the bill does not establish eligibility for Native Hawaiians in Indian programs and services, unless Native Hawaiians are otherwise eligible for such services. The substitute amendment clearly states that Native Hawaiians have federal programs that are established to benefit Native Hawaiians and are appropriated separately from Indian programs and services. We have never intended to "cut into the pie" of funding for Indian programs and services and had previously believed that the language in the bill was sufficient to alleviate the concerns of Members of Congress. We clarified the bill further and successfully addressed the concerns expressed by Tex Hall, President, National Congress of American Indians, and certain Members of Congress who were still concerned that the language in S. 147 did not adequately protect Indian programs and services.
NEXT STEPS FOR S. 147
As for the "prognosis" of the bill, I remain cautiously optimistic that given the opportunity for a roll call vote on the passage of S. 147, we have the necessary votes in the United States Senate to pass the bill. Senator Inouye and I have been meeting with our colleagues to talk about the legislation and to address any concerns that they may have about the bill. We have had the full support of our Democratic colleagues for the past six years. In addition, we have support from a number of our colleagues across the aisle. I continue to meet with my colleagues on the legislation and will do so until the bill is considered by the Senate.
Our biggest challenge in the enactment of this bill remains with the Executive Branch. The White House wields a tremendous amount of authority over the Legislative Branch in terms of which bills are allowed to be considered in the House and Senate. This is due to the majority that the Republican party currently wields in the House and Senate. This is why I greatly value the efforts of Governor Linda Lingle who has reached out to her contacts in the Executive Branch regarding the importance of this bill for the State of Hawaii.
At the end of the last session, Senator Inouye and I were able to reach an agreement with Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and the Senate Leadership, that the bill would be considered for debate and a roll call vote in the U.S. Senate no later than August 7, 2005. I am confident that this agreement will be honored. For far too long, a few members have used Senate rules to prevent this legislation from being considered by the full Senate. I believe these actions were based on the knowledge that we have the necessary votes to enact this bill. I am pleased that the Senate will finally have the opportunity to consider this legislation during the 109th Congress. While we continue to press for immediate consideration of the bill, we do not yet have a firm date for its consideration in the Senate.
ROLE OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE UPON ENACTMENT OF S. 147
The Committees' second question dealt with what the Hawaii State Legislature should be doing to assist with the implementation of the bill upon enactment. As you know, section 8(b) provides that once federal recognition is granted to the Native Hawaiian governing entity, the entity then will begin negotiations with the State of Hawaii and the federal government to resolve a number of matters, most specifically, the exercise of any governmental powers by the Native Hawaiian governing entity. Until that time, the bill does not provide a clear role for the State of Hawaii.
What I see as one of the biggest challenges in implementation will be the establishment of the roll. The roll identifies the Native Hawaiians who meet the definition of Native Hawaiian in the bill and choose to participate in the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian government. The bill establishes a certification commission to be composed of Native Hawaiians with expertise in genealogy to certify that those individuals who are applying to be on the roll meet the definition of Native Hawaiian. I anticipate that this process will have a tremendous impact on the state offices that handle birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates. The Hawaii State Legislature may be helpful in providing resources to address the increase in demand that these offices will face once Native Hawaiians begin to apply to be listed on the roll.
RECONCILIATION AND RECOGNITION
Finally, I'd like to make a comment about a common misunderstanding about this bill. S. 147 is not about redress and it never was. This bill is about process and opportunity. Like I said earlier, I am proud of the balance this bill achieves between structure and flexibility for Native Hawaiians to reorganize their governing entity for the purposes of a federally recognized government-to-government relationship. This is just one of many steps that we will take as we move forward as a people to provide a better future for our children.
The claims section in this bill is intended to protect any claims that anyone may have. This bill has always contained language stating that "Nothing in this Act is intended to settle any claims." This is the same language that I included in the Apology Resolution to protect any claims as it has never been my intent to address claims in the legislation I have drafted to date. My intent with the Apology Resolution was to educate members of Congress about the history of Hawaii in an effort to lay the foundation for the process of reconciliation.
My intent in drafting this bill is to provide Native Hawaiians with the opportunity to reorganize their governing entity for the purposes of a federally recognized government-to-government relationship with the United States. This is important because it provides parity in the way the federal government deals with the indigenous peoples who inhabited the lands which have become the United States. There are many, many more steps that we will take as a people. I believe it is wrong to predetermine the outcome of these longstanding matters in legislation. For that reason, I have deliberately not sought to resolve longstanding issues, such as land conflicts, in this bill. I believe that once the entity is reorganized, it will be in a position to negotiate these issues for its citizens with Native Hawaiians controlling the outcome of the process.
CONCLUSION
Again, I appreciate the opportunity to provide information to the Hawaii State Legislature pertaining to the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005. I have included with my statement a copy of the substitute amendment which was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on March 9, 2005; a section-by-section analysis of the legislation; and a PowerPoint presentation that my office has used over the past year to explain the legislation. I look forward to working with you.
