THE NEW NATIVE HAWAIIAN RECOGNITION BILL S.1783 INTRODUCED DECEMBER 7, 2001

On December 7, 2001, a brand new version of the Native Hawaiian Recognition bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Akaka on behalf of himself and Senator Inouye. It was, of course, immediately referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs where Senator Inouye is Chairman and Senator Akaka is a member.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE INTRODUCTION OF S.1783 WERE DISHONORABLE. Senator Inouye had just been caught trying to sneak the previous version of the Native Hawaiian Recognition bill past his colleagues by hiding it in the form of a single sentence deep inside a huge appropriations bill. Proceedings were called to a halt in the Senate so this cancer could be surgically removed from the Defense Appropriations bill.

DETAILS OF THE STEALTH STRATEGY IN DECEMBER, 2001, and objections to it, are documented.

S.1783 DIFFERS FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN RECOGNITION BILL in some important ways. (1) A new definition of "Native Hawaiian" is created In an attempt to fool Congress into thinking the new Akakakanaka tribe would meet the usual criterion of having a real blood quantum requirement, would be of reasonable size, and would be based on previous Congressional legislation. (2) An attempt is made to prevent the certification of more than one Akakakanaka tribe for the 240,000 Native Hawaiians living in Hawai'i; however, that attempt might not prevent subsidiary tribes from forming in other states where 160,000 Native Hawaiians live. (3) The interagency task force within the U.S. government, previously proposed, has been eliminated in order to fool Congress into thinking there will be no new federal bureaucracy; however, the same bureaucrats will still find a home in the Department of Interior where they will coordinate more than 150 racial entitlement programs. (4) An attempt is made to prevent the State of Hawai'i from having any voice in the structure or membership of the new Akakakanaka sovereign entity to be formed within its borders; but this attempt might produce lawsuits from losing factions within the tribe's charter membership. (5) A new so-called "Ethics" section should more properly be called The Dawson Provision -- A License for Nepotism and Corruption.

THE FULL TEXT OF THE NEW NATIVE HAWAIIAN RECOGNITION BILL S.1783 is provided.

================================

You may now

SEE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AKAKA BILL IN GENERAL

GO BACK TO OTHER TOPICS ON THIS WEBSITE

Email: ken_conklin@yahoo.com