Mr. President, I rise today with the senior Senator from Hawaii to introduce the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005. I ask that my full statement be inserted in the record and that the text of the bill be printed in the record.

The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 authorizes the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations in the Department of the Interior, establishes the Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group, and establishes a process for the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian governing entity for the purposes of federal recognition.

While Congress has traditionally treated Native Hawaiians in a manner parallel to American Indians and Alaska Natives, the federal policy of self-governance and self-determination has not been formally extended to Native Hawaiians. The bill itself does not extend federal recognition - it authorizes the process for federal recognition.

Following recognition of the Native Hawaiian government, negotiations will ensue between the Native Hawaiian governing entity and federal and state governments over matters such as the transfer of lands and natural resources; the exercise of governmental authority over any transferred lands, natural resources and other assets, including land use; the exercise of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and the delegation of governmental powers and authorities to the Native Hawaiian governing entity by the federal and state governments. This reflects the cooperation between the federal and state governments and the Native Hawaiian governing entity. It also reflects a new paradigm where recognition provides the governing entity with a seat at the table to negotiate such matters.

Mr. President, some have characterized this bill as race-based legislation. As indigenous peoples, Native Hawaiians never relinquished their inherent rights to sovereignty. We were a government that was overthrown. While the history of the Native Hawaiian government ended in 1893 with great emotion and despair, inspired by the dignity and grace of Queen Liliuokalani, Native Hawaiians have preserved their culture, tradition, subsistence rights, language, and distinct communities. We have tried to hold on to our homeland. Hawaii, for us, is our homeland.

I am Native Hawaiian and Chinese. I appreciate the culture and ethnicity of my ancestors. I can trace my Chinese roots back to Fukien Province in China. My Native Hawaiian roots, however, are in Hawaii because it is our Hawaiian homeland.

My Chinese ancestors came to Hawaii to build a better life. My Native Hawaiian grandparents and parents had America come into their homeland and forever change their lives. This is a profound difference.

I am proud to be an American, and I am proud to have served my country in the military. As long as Hawaii is a part of the United States, however, I believe the United States must fulfill its responsibility to Hawaii's indigenous peoples. Therefore, because this legislation is based on the political and legal relationship between the United States and its indigenous peoples, which has been upheld for many, many years, by the United States Supreme Court, based on the Indian Commerce Clause, I strenuously disagree with the mischaracterization of this legislation as race-based.

Why is this bill so important? This bill provides a step forward in the process of reconciliation pursuant to P.L. 103-150, the Apology Resolution, which committed the United States to a process of reconciliation with Native Hawaiians. The bill establishes the structure for Native Hawaiians and non-Native Hawaiians to discuss longstanding issues resulting from the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

This discussion has been assiduously avoided because no one has known how to address or deal with the emotions that are involved when these matters are discussed. There has been no structured process. Instead, there has been fear as to what the discussion would entail, causing people to avoid and shirk the issues. Such behavior has led to high levels of anger and frustration as well as misunderstanding between Native Hawaiians and non-Native Hawaiians.

As a young child, I was discouraged from speaking Hawaiian because I was told that I needed to succeed in the Western world. My parents witnessed the overthrow and lived during a time when all things Hawaiian, including language, which they both spoke fluently, hula, custom, and tradition, were viewed unfavorably and discouraged. I, therefore, was discouraged from speaking the language and practicing Hawaiian customs and tradition. My experience mirrors that of my generation of Hawaiians.

My children, however, have had the advantage of growing up during the Hawaiian renaissance, a period of revival for Hawaiian language, custom, and tradition. My grandchildren, benefitting from this revival, can speak Hawaiian and know so much about our history.

It is this generation, however, that is growing impatient with the lack of progress in efforts to resolve longstanding issues. It is this generation that does not understand why we have not discussed these matters. It is this generation that cannot believe that we, as Native Hawaiians, have let the situation continue for 110 years.

There is an active minority within this generation, spurred by frustration and sadness, that embraces independence from the United States.

It is for this generation that I bring this bill forward to ensure that there is a structured process to address these issues.

My point is that Hawaii's people, both Native Hawaiians and non-Native Hawaiians, are no longer willing to pretend that the longstanding issues resulting from the overthrow do not exist. We need the structured process that this bill provides, first in reorganizing the Native Hawaiian governing entity, and second by providing that entity with the opportunity to negotiate and resolve issues with the Federal and State governments to alleviate the growing mistrust, misunderstanding, anger, and frustration about these matters in Hawaii. This can only be done through a government-to-government relationship. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in enacting this legislation.