Aloha and good morning Chairman John McCain and members of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs:
This testimony consists of two parts.
Part 1 gives my reasons for opposing the concept of the bill.
Part 2 is intended for those who might favor the bill, to alert you to the need for some amendments to safeguard the due process rights of ethnic Hawaiians and of all Hawai'i's people.
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PART 1: FUNDAMENTAL OPPOSITION TO THE BILL
The Hawaiian recognition bill, S.147 and H.R.309, is highly controversial, unconstitutional, and dangerous to all 50 states. Also known as the Akaka bill, it would give federal recognition to the equivalent of a phony Indian tribe invented out of thin air.
The purpose is to protect over 160 race-based programs under court challenge because of a Supreme Court decision. It would carve up Hawai'i by race, and set a precedent for similar balkanization throughout America.
20% of Hawai'i's people, completely integrated and intermarried, living working and praying side by side with everyone else throughout all neighborhoods, would be singled out by law solely because they have a drop of native blood, and given a new government. Three-fourths of them have less than 25% native blood. Probably most of them oppose the whole idea of a race-based government, but will never have any way to stop such a government from being created and claiming to represent them.
If this bill passes, a race-based government can be created to protect the wealth and power of some ethnic Hawaiians and to keep federal dollars flowing to Hawai'i. There will never be a vote by all ethnic Hawaiians or by all Hawai'i's people on this issue. Ethnic Hawaiians who sign up for the "tribe" get to vote for a "tribal" council and get federal recognition; ethnic Hawaiians who oppose it (probably a majority), and the remaining 80% of Hawai'i's people, are shut out. The bill also allows a negotiated settlement dividing up Hawai'i's lands and resources without any ratification vote by the tribe's members or by the people of Hawai'i.
The Hawaiian "tribe" would be the largest in America, with 400,000 possible members. 240,000 of them live in Hawai'i, 60,000 in California (more than any current California tribe), and 100,000 in the other 48 states. This huge "tribe" would compete against genuine tribes for federal handouts at the expense of all America's taxpayers.
Hawai'i Senators Inouye and Akaka sat on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for many years, even though there have never been any tribes in Hawai'i. They constantly inserted "Native Hawaiians" into legislation intended to benefit real Indians and Alaska natives. Because of court challenges, they now want Congress to make it official that "Native Hawaiians" are federally recognized as a tribe. Hawai'i politicians, both Democrat and Republican, favor the bill to make all America's taxpayers keep sending money to Hawai'i!
The precedent set by the Hawaiian Recognition bill would strengthen demands by millions of "indigenous" people throughout the U.S. not currently eligible for tribal membership, casinos, or government handouts to form new federally recognized tribes simply because they have a drop of Indian blood. Their people and businesses living on "tribal" lands would be exempt from federal and state income tax, sales tax, environmental regulations, and civil and criminal laws; and would be subjected to whatever laws are created by "tribal" government insiders without recourse to U.S. Constitutional protections. Indian groups throughout America are claiming special rights to race-based control of "sacred places."
In Hawai'i, the old pagan religion is being revived and used to support political claims for racial supremacy in land use policy, based on a sacred genealogical family relationship among the gods, the ethnic Hawaiians, and all the lands of Hawai'i. No partitioning of the state's land would prevent "traditional practitioners" from claiming a right to perform "indigenous" religious ceremonies, or to gather "sacred" materials, or to claim violation of the land's sacredness by the presence of non-natives, on lands throughout Hawai'i.
The balkanization of America is already well underway through racial and ethnic identity politics. The recent California governor recall election showed this dramatically. Cruz Bustamante got huge campaign contributions from California Indian tribes who expected him to protect their special interests -- the money came from untaxed tribal income from casinos and tribal businesses. Bustamante's enthusiastic membership in a radical hispanic group drew major attention -- MEChA claims a right to organize a race-based nation for all people having any Aztec (Mexican) ancestry, converting California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (all former Mexican territory) into a new independent Nation of Aztlan. The legal and moral basis for doing this is similar to the rationale for the Hawaiian bill -- historical grievances against the U.S. and demands for money and power for allegedly poor, downtrodden "indigenous" people. Other nations have suffered grievously because of laws and government policies establishing racial supremacy. Fiji, with a history similar to Hawai'i, enforces Native Fijian racial supremacy over descendants of Asian sugar plantation workers through a legal system resembling what Hawaiian sovereignty activists are seeking.
Join with Senator Kyl (R, AZ) who wrote a letter to his constituents explaining why he opposes [former bill number S.344] (see below). Join with Senator Craig (R, ID) who wrote a lengthy message on behalf of the Senate Republican Policy Committee asking Senators to vote against it. Join with Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R, WI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who wrote a letter to Speaker Hastert demanding that the bill be killed, or referred to his committee for hearings on its unconstitutionality. The Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial against the bill, entitled "A Bright Line on Race." But despite all this opposition, a very powerful Senator Inouye (D, HI) continues making backroom deals and trading votes, and an agency of the Hawai'i state government is spending millions lobbying for the bill.
Hawai'i has a beautiful rainbow of races and cultures living together harmoniuosly under a single set of laws applicable to all persons regardless of race. We celebrate our diversity without any need or desire for racial separatism. Hawai'i is the most racially diverse state in the nation, with the highest rate of intermarriage. Members of every race can be found throughout all neighborhoods, all religions, and occupations, and all economic levels. Ethnic Hawaiians have produced a powerful renaissance of their culture and language during the past thirty years, with no need for a race-based government. Many thousands of people with no native ancestry participate in Hawaiian cultural activities, and speak Hawaiian language, because these things are the core of our multiethnic society.
Please do not splinter the rainbow by creating a separate government based on race. Please help the people of Hawai'i stay together, and do not authorize legislation that would pull us apart.
Extensive documentation of the main points stated above can be found at:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaNationalSummary109Cong.html
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PART 2: AMENDMENTS NEEDED CONSISTENT WITH THE PURPOSE OF THE BILL, TO PROTECT DUE PROCESS RIGHTS FOR ETHNIC HAWAIIANS AND FOR ALL HAWAI'I'S PEOPLE
Let's think out of the box. Suppose we agree it's OK to authorize establishment of a race-based government for ethnic Hawaiians (an illegal and immoral idea; but let's suppose). There are still some terrible problems with the Akaka bill, but amendments might solve them.
Problem: The bill would allow a few thousand people to create a "tribe" and get federal recognition as speaking on behalf of all 401,000 Hawaiians. The fat-cats who run the big Hawaiian institutions, plus their employees and institutionalized dependents who want a tribe can create one; while the majority of ethnic Hawaiians who hate the whole idea have no way to stop it except by joining the tribe to oppose from within. Once the tribe is created, all government benefits for Hawaiians flow through the tribal council and go only to enrolled members. Thus, ethnic Hawaiians who hate racial separatism and the tribal concept feel forced to join or lose benefits, and must submit themselves to the civil and criminal laws of the tribe as enforced by council members they despise. This is not "self-determination" for Native Hawaiians; it is a power grab by people whose wealth and power comes from keeping others permanently dependent on them.
Solution: Amend the Akaka bill to require that no Hawaiian tribe can be federally recognized until at least half of all adult Hawaiians enroll as members. Census 2000 counted 253,007 "Native Hawaiians" who were 18 or older. Thus, the bill should be amended to require enrollment of 126,504 before recognition can be given.
Problem: The bill would allow the tribal council to negotiate with federal and state governments to decide which Hawai'i lands and resources will belong to the tribe. But the bill would allow the tribal council alone to accept such a settlement without a vote among the tribe's members; and it would allow the state Legislature to accept such a settlement without a vote by the people of Hawai'i. We all know that the Legislature and Governor eagerly give away state resources to OHA and DHHL, and unanimously endorse the Akaka bill, because politicians dare not defy the 20% ethnic Hawaiian "swing vote" they mistakenly treat as monolithic. That's why any settlement must be put to a vote of the people.
Solution: Amend the Akaka bill to require that any settlement among the tribe, the state, and the federal government must first be approved by "yes" votes from a majority of enrolled tribal members as determined by a secret ballot vote supervised by a neutral outside agency, such as the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Based on figures above, 63,253 "yes" votes from adult Hawaiians would be required. Also amend the Akaka bill to require that any settlement must be approved by the Legislature AND by all the people of Hawai'i according to the same procedures used for ratifying a Constitutional amendment. First the settlement gets approved by the tribe's members; then by the people of Hawai'i; then by the U.S. Congress (with regard to federal lands and money).
Problem: The bill allows 20 years for settlement between the tribe and the federal government, and imposes no time limit at all for a tribal settlement with the state. This is not "reconciliation." It is a formula for a 20-year conflict with the federal government and a never-ending conflict between ethnic Hawaiians and the remaining 80% of Hawai'i's people. In the interest of "reconciliation," a shorter time limit is needed for a global settlement of all issues among all three parties. As Abraham Lincoln said in his second inaugural address toward the end of the Civil War: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the wounds ...”
Solution: Amend the Akaka bill to require a global settlement among the tribe, the state, and the federal government with a time limit of five years for negotiations to succeed or for lawsuits to be filed. Thereafter, all claims become moot except for new disputes arising out of events that happen after the time limit expires. Hawaiian independence activists believe that nothing done by the U.S. can take away their right to self-determination or independence; thus, imposing a time limit for a global settlement among the tribe, the state, and the U.S. would not interfere with the rights they claim to have under "international law."
Further elaboration of these major amendments, plus a number of additional "technical" amendments, can be found at:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaAmendmentIdeas020105.html
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CONCLUSION
The Akaka bill would be disastrous for Hawai'i and for the United States -- for details see http://tinyurl.com/5jp5r [.] Major amendments described above (plus some minor ones) would at least make the process democratic for ethnic Hawaiians and for all Hawai'i's people -- for further details about amendments see: http://tinyurl.com/3jrr9 [.] But I consider the whole concept of this bill, even with the proposed amendments, to be unconstitutional, historically unjustifiable, morally reprehensible, and disastrous for Hawai'i and for the United States.
Please kill this bill.
Thank you for considering my testimony.
Kenneth R. Conklin, Ph.D.
46-255 Kahuhipa St. Apt. 1205
Kane'ohe, HI 96744
tel/fax (808) 247-7942
e-mail Ken_Conklin@yahoo.com
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty
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