The following testimonies are short and to the point. Website editor Ken Conklin has deleted street addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of the authors, to protect the authors and their families from harassment. However, any reader is welcome to send comments or questions to Ken Conklin, who will forward such messages so that authors may reply directly (or not) if they wish. Send e-mail to
Ken_Conklin@yahoo.com
. Testimony is listed in alphabetical order by author
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TO: SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
testimony@indian.senate.gov
FROM: EARL ARAKAKI, EWA BEACH, HI 96706
SUBJECT: TESTIMONY OPPOSING S.147
NATIVE HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION ACT OF 2005.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
836 HART OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
Honorable Senator McCain and Honorable Senator/Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs;
As a third generation resident of the State of Hawaii.
I am strongly
opposed to S.147 The Native Hawaiian Government
Reorganization Act of 2005,
aka. the Akaka bill. Reasons motivating Hawaii's
congressional delegates
seem noble, but in reality it is based on money
justified by flawed
revisionist American and Hawaii history. The Akaka
bill will drive a wedge
within communities, and families. Please, keep Hawaii
united.
Please, keep Hawaii united because; The Akaka bills
greatest tragedy is that
it will divorce a large segment of our population from
our thriving
mainstream of life built by multiracial generations.
Hawaii's success is
the direct result of sweat equity off the backs of
intergrated generations.
From the time of unification of Hawaii by King
Kamehameha the Great, as a
Territory of the United States, and now as the 50th
State.
Please, keep Hawaii united because; The Akaka bill
will sadly segregate
young men and women of Hawaiian ancestry. It is from
progressive
competition that brings out the best in people by
which our multi-ethnic
state thrives.
Please, keep Hawaii united because; The Akaka bills
seemingly harmless
segregation, can only lead to mental and spiritual
stagnation of American
citizens of Hawaiian ancestry.
Please, keep Hawaii united because; On King Kamehameha
the Great's deathbed,
the King said, "I have given you--the greatest good:
peace. And a kingdom
which--is all one--a kingdom of all the islands." (The
Warrior King Hawaii's
Kamehameha the Great, R. Tregaskis pg. 303) Please do
not destroy the
legacy of the great king. Please, keep Hawaii united.
/s/ Earl Arakaki
-----------------
To: testimony@indian.senate.gov
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005
Subject: Akaka Bill S.147 Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
836 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
February 27, 2005
Gentlemen:
As a lifetime resident of Hawaii, over 74 years, I am firmly opposed to the Akaka Bill, S.147, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, as it's passage would ultimately destroy the Hawaii that we all know and love.
It is time to stop supporting those demanding benefits based solely on racial or heritage classification and to stand firmly for equal benefits for all of Hawaii's residents, regardless of their race. It is also time to stop supporting so-called "sovereignty" or race based programs unless we are determined to divide and destroy the Hawaii that the residents all know and have participated in creating with their efforts and tax dollars. Unless we are going to establish separate and individual race based entitlements and programs for the Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Portuguese, Koreans, Samoans, Tongans, Caucasians and all of the other ethnic groups living in Hawaii we should not do so for any single racial group. To do so would be unconstitutional and discriminatory.
The State of Hawaii and our Congressional delegation, rather than pandering to the Hawaiians for their votes, should not be supporting this bill but rather should be representing all the people of Hawaii and working towards putting an end to all race based programs and entitlements in Hawaii.
It is time to stop this Hawaiian "sovereignty" nonsense and stand firm for the equal rights of all Hawaii's residents.
I urge you not to support this legislation.
Robert M. Chapman
Honolulu, HI 96822
---------------
Senate committee on indian affairs
836 Hart office Bldg.
Washington D. C. 20510
Re: S 147
This bill is based on revisionist history, both
American and Hawaiian. It is
divisive, racially hateful, un-American, and surly
will not sand a
constitutional test.
Our country is based on equality
for all.
The ensuing court challenges, sure to follow enactment
of this bill, will
bring a level of animosity that will tear at Hawaii
and the entire country.
This is purely an attempt to garner votes from the
Hawaiian community by the
democratic party here in my state. Yet even here in
Hawaii it is not
welcomed by many Hawaiians. It is a racially based
power grab to sustain a
failing political party that is hell bent on
committing suicide, don`t let
them drag you and our country down.
Please see this
bill for what it is, a
horrible example of power gone mad at the expense of
our wonderful
experiment in government.
We have celebrated 229 years
of trials and success
don`t you fail America now.
Bud Ebel
Lawrence G. Ebel
-----------------
February 27, 2005
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
836 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Honorable Committee Members,
I have been a resident of the state of Hawaii since
1961. My wife and
children are part Hawaiian. Yet, we are adamantly
opposed to this bill.
Here's why.
This bill is ill conceived, ill advised and
potentially destructive to
the socioeconomic fabric of the state of Hawaii.
1. The concept of restitution for supposed wrong doing
by the U.S
government is fallacious. It is based upon revisionist
history that the
Untied Sates overthrew their queen and subsequently
illegally annexed
the territory. In fact the people of Hawaii had few
rights under the
monarchy and most of the property was "crown" land,
owned by the
monarchy. That the Hawaiian people had land stolen
from them is
ridiculous.
2. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs was created by the
state and has
siphoned millions of dollars per year of needed state
revenue, which
would have been better utilized on such needs as
public education. This
money has not benefited Hawaiians and has been
incredibly mismanaged.
This organization will be the foundation for the new
sovereign nation
of Hawaii. It is necessary that the committee members
view material
that accurately portrays the malfeasance of those that
now want their
own nation.
Please enter as testimony the following reports
authored by Marion
Higa, Hawaii state auditor:
Report No. 90-11 dated February 1990
Report No. 93-28 dated December 1993
Report No. 96-21 dated December 1996
Report No. 97-7 dated February 1997
Report No. 01-06 dated March 2001
Subsequent reports if available.
3. Hawaiians have historically been totally
assimilated within the
geography, culture and business in Hawaii. They have
the same
opportunity to succeed, or fail, as everyone else.
Many have become
leaders in business, education and government. They do
have, however,
access to a superior education via the Bishop Estate
and Kamehameha
Schools. There are many programs only available to
those with some
element of Hawaiian ancestry. Valuable land has been
set aside for
Hawaiian Homes and this too has been badly managed. We
can see then
that Hawaiians already have certain privileges not
available to other
races and that many programs designed to help them
have simply not
worked.
4. The public at large in Hawaii has been given
virtually no
information on the ramifications of the subject bill.
What they have
seen and heard are advertisements and slick TV spots,
paid for by
sovereignty proponents with dollars that should have
gone for public
purpose. Thus, the public has no idea of what the bill
would do to
Hawaii's citizens, business , land titles, government
and the tax base.
Opposition to this bill seems to come from those who
have done their
homework and truly realize its onerous consequences.
5. If S.147 were a development project it would
require an
Environmental Impact Statement to be sure it would not
hazard the
environment and the people who live near it. How in
the world can the
Congress of the United States pass such legislation
without doing the
same?
6. The racial discrimination contained in this bill is
patently
unconstitutional. Please save us poor taxpayers a lot
of money by not
subjecting us to the constitutional challenge that
will surely arise.
In summary, there is absolutely no rationale for
advancing this
discriminatory bill through the congress. Proponents
have tried to
sneak it in with appropriations and used other means
to advance its
progress. The committee might ask the authors for the
real reason for
their uncommon zeal. As they say "follow the money".
It's got to be
there somewhere.
Please do not permit this legislation to go any
further. We are all
Americans. Let's keep it that way.
Respectfully,
William L. George
Honokaa, HI 96727
As an addendum to my previous email testimony, I offer
the following
very important point.
The subject bill will open up an infinite pandora's
box due to the
inability to practically determine;
1) Who is actually Hawaiian
2) The amount Hawaiian blood necessary for citizenship
n the Hawaiian
Nation.
Example:
My wife's father was 1/8 Hawaiian,
My wife's mother was 5/8 hawaiian
My wife is 3/8 Hawaiian
Our children have 3/16 Hawaiian
Our grandchildren have 3/32 Hawaiian and qualify for
entry into
Kamehameha schools. Their appearances belie even a
drop of Hawaiian
blood.
Where does the qualification end?
I can assure you there will be a flood of applicants
for any free lunch
based on racial determination. The door will be open
to fraud and
misrepresentation. In addition to those with one drop
of Hawaiian blood
there will be applicants claiming to be Hawaiian who
are not.
Eligibility determination will tax resources and
ultimately prove to
be impossible.
What about those whose applications are rejected by
the Hawaiian
Nation? What are their legal rights? Can they sue the
U.S. government?
Can they sue the Hawaiian Nation?
A I stated in my previous email, this bill is ill
conceived, ill
advised and poses a threat to the community, the
economy and the
culture.
Please do not permit this bill to move forward.
Respectfully,
William George
Honokaa, Hi 96727
------------------
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/11/op/op05pletters.html
The Honolulu Advertiser, Friday, March 11, 2005
Letters to the Editor
Costume party decadence dooms aboriginal culture
Hawai'i is a great place to live, but it may become permanently disgusting.
We would be forced to live with endless repetitions of a fake Hawaiian culture pushed in our faces if the Akaka bill becomes the law of the land: the phony, nauseatingly stupid, missionary hula; the castrati-falsetto hymn praising colonialist princes and princesses; senseless rewrites in Christian versions of Hawaiian myths as fairytales.
It's a kind of modern-day racist minstrel show with Hawai'i's numerous ethnic minorities costumed as Native Hawaiians and putting on demeaning skits. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Hawai'i has been overwhelmingly bored by such fake foolishness since the missionaries started it, but it has become politically incorrect to say so. This made-up fantasy rubbish is now mostly propagated by Kamehameha Schools, which has a cult following, to market its schools as so elite.
Everybody is a wannabe Hawaiian, and this bill renders this crazy delusion into law, converting 400,000 Asian Americans into Hawai'i's new Native Americans while killing off for good Hawai'i's actual Native Hawaiians of the blood. Ours is a disposable society, and this is another gross example of the real replaced by adept forgeries.
Imagine, a fake being rendered into the real thing by an act of Congress? What's next?
A lie repeated often enough ends up becoming a kind of hyper-reality. Existing law long ignored versus the lie made into new law by politicians serving the same special interests that have for too long held Hawai'i's economy in a monopoly death grip. This is identity theft, with actual Native Hawaiians being replaced by a whole new breed of hustler. Oh, unvigilant journalists, what have you done to us?
Is there an outer, outer island to escape to from the madness?
Like one of those charity schemes wherein they pretend to raise money for a good cause but give only a couple of pennies on the dollar to them, the Akaka bill is one of the most outrageous political con games ever — with newly minted fake Native Hawaiians serving as dumb shills to leverage increased government funds for yet more deadhead bureaucrats.
The lesson learned: Use federal courts in Washington, D.C., to sue these bums since their political reach extends into the federal courts here and in San Francisco.
Maui Loa
Chief, Hou Band of Native Hawaiians of the Blood of Hawai'i
Hale'iwa
** Note from website editor Ken Conklin: A much longer essay by Chief Maui Loa giving his in-depth analysis of the Akaka bill is the following:
Chief Maui Loa, the Hou Hawaiians, Open Letter to President Bush Opposing the Hawaiian Government Reorganization bill S.147, April 6, 2005 on Grounds that It Would Destroy the Special Rights of native Hawaiians of the Blood by Expanding the Definition of “Hawaiian” to Include Hundreds of Thousands of Low-Blood-Quantum People
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles/ChiefMauiLoa040605.html
-----------------
To: McCain@McCain.senate.gov
CC: Testimony@indian.senate.gov
Subject: Testimony opposing S. 147
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005
Dear Sen. McCain,
Please pass this testimony on to your fellow committee
members.
I am a Hawaii-born and raised American citizen who is
opposed to S. 147,
a.k.a. the Akaka bill.
S. 147 is profoundly
un-American. It promotes racial
discrimination reminiscent of that found in Nazi
Germany and South Africa.
Such neo-apartheid must not grow any further on the
soil of Hawaii or on
that of any state of the Union.
It is already bad
enough that Hawaii has
160 Hawaiians-only programs and a Hawaiians-only
school.
And despite all
this racially exclusionary "help," only a minority of
Hawaiians benefit. So
it is no wonder that even some Hawaiian activists are
rejecting the Akaka
bill:
http://stopakaka.com
Such a bill sets a terrible precedent for others who
seek to exploit legal
racial and ethnic discrimination for power and money
in the name of "helping
the oppressed." Please don't let their greed tear
Hawaii - or the country -
apart.
Marc Miyake
Aiea, Hawaii 96701
-------------------
To: 'Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005
Subject: RE: S. 147 Akaka bill
Dear members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee:
Attached please find my testimony in OPPOSITION to S. 147, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005. This testimony consists of a .pdf file of my booklet "Killing Aloha" which offers a section-by-section analysis of the bill. I am also sending a copy by mail, although I understand that mail delivery can take quite some time.
In "Killing Aloha" I explain why S. 147 is constitutionally infirm, why its factual and legal foundations are invalid, why it would fail to achieve its intended purposes even if those purposes were legitimate, why it would set a dangerous precedent with respect to American Indians and Alaska Natives, and why it would cause grave political, legal and social harm to Hawai'i and the United States.
In summary, the bill is intended to give special political status to a group defined solely by race. In doing so, it would visit on Hawai'i a blatant racial segregation. While the bill's supporters claim that they have been unfairly treated and that only sovereign status can give them justice, these claims fall apart under close scrutiny.
I understand that the hearing this coming Tuesday will not involve any witnesses presenting testimony like mine which denies the existence of any legal, historical or moral reason for passing this bill and asserts that if passed, it would be unconstitutional. This is a grave omission. Before this bill is acted upon, the Committee and the Congress should have a balanced view of its likely consequences. Full and open hearings would help.
I would like to thank the Committee for considering this submittal.
Aloha,
Paul M. Sullivan
P. O. Box 30014
Honolulu, HI 96820
** Followup message faxed Monday, February 28, 2005 to the Indian Affairs Committee by Mr. Sullivan **
Paul M. Sullivan
P. O. Box 30014, Honolulu, HI 96820
February 28, 2005
United States Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs
838 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington DC 20510 Via FAX to 202-228-2862
Re: S. 147
Dear Committee Members:
Tomorrow, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is scheduled to consider S. 147, sometimes referred to as the "Akaka Bill," a bill which would authorize "Native Hawaiians," defined solely in racial terms, to create a "governing entity" with which the Federal government would interact on a government-to-government basis. I ask that the Committee reject S. 147.
S. 147 is the latest in a long line of similar bills which have justly failed of passage. The new bill is no improvement. Perhaps the worst feature is what the bill lacks. The bill gives no hint as to what the new government would look like, what powers it might have and what land, other resources and political authority it will take away from the State of Hawai'i and other states. The bill provides that all of this will be negotiated between the entity, the State of Hawai'i and the Federal government after the "entity" has organized itself and after it has been recognized as a government pursuant to this bill.
This is unacceptable. Senator Inouye noted in his January 25, 2005 statement upon the bill's introduction that the "entity" will not be a traditional Indian tribe and "the body of Federal Indian law that would otherwise customarily apply when the United States extends Federal recognition to an Indian tribal group does not apply." There is no existing Native Hawaiian governing entity or anything like it, so the new entity would have to be created from the ground up. We cannot assume anything about its powers and its limitations.
There is no constitutional warrant for Congress to create any novel type of sovereign government within an existing state (or to create an Indian tribe, for that matter). Nevertheless, if such constitutional authority existed, Congress would owe the affected states and their citizens a clear description of what is to be imposed upon them, and a chance to object, before the entity is given governmental status.
What is known is that his bill would draw a bright line of segregation between U. S. citizens on ground of race or, as the U. S. Supreme Court put it in Rice v. Cayetano (528 U.S. 495 (2000)), ancestry used as a proxy for race. The bill's definition of "Native Hawaiian" is essentially identical to the definition which the Rice court held to be an unconstitutional racial classification. The bill would permit this racial group to obtain Federal recognition as a tribe and assume governmental authority over a part of the State of Hawai'i, and perhaps other states.
The 2000 census listed 401,920 people as being of Hawaiian ancestry. Of those, 239,655 live in Hawai'i (out of a population of just over 1.2 million) and 162,265 live in other states. By politically segregating this group on the basis of race alone, the bill would racially balkanize Hawai'i and the other states where people of Hawaiian ancestry reside. It would even divide families. It would also undercut true Native American tribes by the precedent it sets, and the policy it implies, that any descendants of Native Americans can form a "tribe" or other entity and seek Federal recognition without any need to show historical existence and governmental character.
And all for no good reason. There is no pretense that this is affirmative action or an effort to remedy past discrimination. There is no Hawaiian "tribe." In fact, there is no factual, legal or constitutional justification for this proposal. It is racial politics, pure and simple.
As far as I know, the administration has not yet taken a position on the bill, but the bill's exclusive focus on race as a basis for granting special political status, together with the lack of any justification which might meet the applicable constitutional test of strict scrutiny, suggest that the administration would oppose it.
I have e-mailed to the Committee my booklet "Killing Aloha," which details the many disastrous features of this bill. I will provide a hard copy to the Committee by mail. "Killling Aloha" is online at either of the following addresses:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles2/AkakaSullivan012505.pdf
Its central arguments were published as a law review article in the University of Hawai'i Law School's on-line law review at
www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/pdfs/v3-13-Sullivan.pdf
This bill should never pass, but it absolutely should not pass now, before its consequences are known.
Please reject S. 147.
Aloha,
Paul M. Sullivan
===========================
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