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House To Vote Tomorrow on Akaka Bill   [Roger Clegg]

The Washington Times reports today that the House is expected to vote tomorrow on the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, also known as the Akaka bill (after its Senate sponsor).  As NR readers will recall—the bill has been decried here by the editors, Ramesh, Peter Kirsanow, yours truly, and others—it would create a new “Indian tribe” made up of anyone with a drop of Native Hawaiian blood.  The idea is to end-run a Supreme Court decision that said—quite rightly—that preferences for Native Hawaiians are ethnic preferences and therefore presumptively unconstitutional; now, presto!, they will no longer be an ethnic group but an Indian tribe, and discrimination in their favor will be perfectly fine.

The bill is unconstitutional, and it is also ugly, divisive, and balkanizing—for Hawaii, of course, but for the whole country as well, particularly in light of the precedent it sets.  The Bush administration issued a statement strongly opposing the bill yesterday.  Anyone who votes for it will have a lot to answer for.

Hawaii Reporter: Bush Administration Strongly Opposes The Akaka Bill (H.R. 505)

By Executive Office of the President, 10/22/2007 3:33:16 PM

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

H.R. 505 – Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007 (Rep. Abercrombie (D) Hawaii and 7 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly opposes passage of H.R. 505. As the U.S. Civil Rights Commission recently noted, this legislation “would discriminate on the basis of race or national origin and further subdivide the American people into discrete subgroups accorded varying degrees of privilege.” The President has eschewed such divisive legislation as a matter of policy, noting that “we must . . . honor the great American tradition of the melting pot, which has made us one nation out of many peoples.” This bill would reverse this great American tradition and divide the governing institutions of this country by race. If H.R. 505 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.

» Read more: Bush Administration Strongly Opposes The Akaka Bill (H.R. 505)

Hawaii Tribune Herald
Thursday, September 13, 2007

Controversy follows Akaka bill, advisory committee

by Nancy Cook Lauer
Stephens Capitol Bureau

HONOLULU — Accusations of politics continue to swirl around an advisory committee working to make recommendations about the Akaka Bill to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Several members of the Hawaii State Advisory Committee said Wednesday they’re considering filing a complaint about Michael Yaki, a pro-Akaka commission member who sat in on a Sept. 5 meeting of the committee. Yaki is the second commission member to attend an advisory committee meeting this year — Commission Chairman Gerald Reynold attended the first meeting of the committee in August.

Haunani Apoliona and Michael Yaki (pictured with the wireless headset he wore throughout the hearings)

Michael Yaki sitting besides Michael Lilly

» Read more: Controversy follows Akaka bill, advisory committee

Haunai Apoliona spoke in support of the Akaka Bill, insisting that ancestry to the “aboriginal, indigenous, native people” of Hawaii is not a proxy for race.

“NHGRA is NOT based on race. It is based on the fact that Native Hawaiians, like the American Indians and Alaska Natives are the aboriginal, indigenous, native people whose ancestors settled and exercised sovereignty in these lands predating the founding of the colonies and the United States.” –Haunani Apoliona

Haunani Apoliona, sitting with the panel at the HISAC meeting

Haunani Apoliona with Michael Yaki, USCCR Commissioner, after the HISAC meeting

Testifying in support of the Akaka Bill, Robert Klein spoke about the limits he thought should be put on the Committee’s consideration about the pending legislation, arguing that constitutionality should simply not be discussed until the issue is presented before a court.

Robert Klein, sitting with the panel at the HISAC meeting

“Will the Akaka Bill pass constitutional muster? This is a legal determination that only a court can make and should be irrelevant to this discussion – it is not your call.” –Robert Klein

Kekuni Blaisdell greets Jere Krischel

Testifying in opposition to the Akaka Bill, Jere Krischel spoke out against the proposed race-based government at a public meeting yesterday. Speaking after three OHA presentations, and a presentation by sovereignty activist Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell, Mr. Krischel offered corrections to both the historical record put forth by his fellow panelists, as well discussing the problems with dividing Hawaii by race.

Jere Krischel, pictured in the foreground, takes notes as Ms. Apoliona speaks

Jere Krischel, left, listens as Mr. Mossman responds to questioning

“Although at one point in time, the people living in Hawaii could be considered fairly distinctly, this moment is far in the past. Whereas we were once easily categorized into just Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Filipino, Caucasian and native Hawaiian, those lines have blurred over the centuries. Like a jar of different colored sand, layered upon one another, once shaken, can never be split up into its component parts.”

“We of Hawaii, of all races, are one people. We are sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles, cousins, children, parents, tutus, wives, husbands, schoolmates, neighbors and friends. Even when we don’t share the same blood, we share the same heart. To divide us by our genetic lineage is counter to the very essence of Hawaii.” –Jere Krischel

Jere Krischel’s full testimony can be found here.

Apoliona, Klein and Mossman’s testimony can be found here.

When made available, Kekuni Blaisdell’s testimony will also be linked.

Aloha, members of the committee, and thank you for inviting me, and giving me this opportunity to share my mana’o on this topic close to my heart.

Aloha also to the esteemed Mr. Mossman, Ms. Apoliona, Mr. Klein and Mr. Blaisdell – I have a great respect for all of them and their many accomplishments, even though I believe they are on the wrong side of particular issues. I am very grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts, and listen to theirs.

I have several themes in my presentation today –

1) a discussion about the historical basis for the Akaka Bill, or any form of race-based sovereignty;

2) a short side trip into a discussion of individual and collectivist civil rights;

3) some notes about the dramatic difference between what is proposed in the Akaka Bill, and current Native American/Alaskan tribal recognition law;

4) the history of the Akaka Bill and efforts to obtain and retain race-based benefits;

5) and finally, some words about the dangers of dividing our interconnected people by race, and some thoughts about considering everyone in Hawaii as Hawaiian.
» Read more: Testimony of Jere Krischel, 9/5/2007, HISAC

Deliberately further dividing America

Commentary by Wes Vernon.

Reported in the Honolulu Advertiser

Five people have challenged the race-based Kau Inoa registry for participation in future government in Hawaii:

“The most notable of the applicants is former Honolulu Advertiser publisher Thurston Twigg-Smith, long a critic of Hawaiian preference policies. The others are Earl Arakaki, Patricia Ann Carroll, Toby Michael Kravet and Garry Paul Smith.”

Also reported in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Civil rights commission should reflect Hawaii’s diverse views

THE STAR-BULLETIN’S editorial seems to suggest that the HISAC should report to Washington what is perceived to be the prevailing or popular sentiment in the islands as expressed in a recent poll supporting the Akaka Bill, apparently without the clutter of dissenting or varying opinions. This is a dangerous standard of reportage, and one which can only undermine the reporter’s credibility. There is no universal opinion in the islands on the Akaka Bill.

Hawaii Moves Toward Second ‘Ethnic’ Government

As reported on NewsMax.com:

Speaking to the House Natural Resources Committee, Hawaii Rep. Neil Abercrombie, also a Democrat, defined the bill this way: “What we’re trying to do in Hawaii is get the government out of the lives of native Hawaiians so that they can make their own decisions. The bottom line here is that this is a bill about the control of assets. This is about land, this is about money, and this is about who has the administrative authority and responsibility over it.”

“Greed, pure and simple” is motivating Hawaiian activists, One Nation United’s Lindsay tells NewsMax. “A small group of native Hawaiian activists think they can get more money, as a tribe, from U.S. taxpayers. And they also want to be given huge amounts of land in Hawaii worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“They’ve told local property owners not to worry, they won’t take their land, but in the future they should plan on sending property taxes to the new Hawaiian entity rather than the county. This is very much a threat to the tax base and to local governments in Hawaii.”