Highlights from Senate hearing on the "Akaka Bill" Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act.  August 6, 2009.

Obama Administration Expresses Strong Support for "Akaka Bill" at Senate Hearing


The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 (S. 1011), sponsored by Senator Akaka.  The hearing marked the first occasion that the Obama Administration Justice Department formally made its position known on this legislation: 

"The Department of Justice strongly supports the core policy goals of this bill, and I am pleased to testify on this historic legislation," said Deputy Associate Attorney General Sam Hirsch in his prepared testimony.  "In recognizing a Native Hawaiian sovereign entity, Congress would in effect determine that Native Hawaiians constitute a distinct community as it has done with Indian tribes.  The history of Native Hawaiian sovereignty and the extent to which Native Hawaiians continue to function as an organized community - engaging in collective action and preserving traditional community and culture - are relevant to this analysis. 

"Despite the overthrow of the monarchy, a community of Native Hawaiians continued to act collectively to preserve their culture and institutions in many ways, and the United States and the State of Hawaii gave a variety of forms of legal recognition and legal status to those distinctive institutions and culture."

Senators Inouye, Murkowski, and Dorgan also expressed their support of the legislation at the hearing.

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