WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospects have never looked more promising for a bill that would give Native Hawaiians the chance to establish their own government, much like the arrangement that has occurred with American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives.
The legislation passed the House on twice, including most recently in October 2007, but it routinely has stumbled in the Senate.
The Bush administration opposed the bill. The election of President Barack Obama, however, has changed the political dynamic. Obama, who was born in Hawaii, promises to sign the legislation if he gets the chance.
"It's very, very favorable for us," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii. "The president is well aware of Hawaii. It's not an exotic outpost or extraction, as it is for so many people. He understands the rationale for the Akaka bill."
2009 is 50th Anniversary of Hawaiin Statehood
The House Committee on Natural Resources takes up the bill, named for Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, on Thursday. A vote is not expected, but Abercrombie said he believes that Congress will pass the legislation before the end of the year, in part because 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of Hawaii becoming a state.
The bill would not automatically establish a Native Hawaiian government. Rather, it would provide a roadmap for how Native Hawaiians could organize such a government.
"It's providing them with an opportunity to help themselves, giving them some self-determination as indigenous Hawaiians," Akaka said.
Once established, the new government would negotiate with the state and the federal government over which assets the new government would own. Currently, the state administers 1.2 million acres of former monarchy land, and some of that land could revert to the new Native Hawaiian government.
"It's essentially an enabling act" that would allow Native Hawaiians the chance to manage land and assets as they see fit, Abercrombie said. "When the land wasn't worth anything and there was no money, nobody cared. Now that the land is worth a considerable amount of money, now all of a sudden, everybody is interested."
Fight Expected Over Benefits Conferred by Race
In 2006, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recommended against passage of comparable legislation. The commission said it opposed any bill that would "discriminate on the basis of race or national origin and further subdivide the American people into discrete subgroups accorded varying degrees of privilege."
Analysts say passage of the legislation would certainly lead to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of conferring benefits based on race.
Akaka said any land transfer that does occur would need the approval of the Hawaii Legislature.