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The Honorable Lamar Alexander United States Senate 455 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Re: Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, S. 201 1/H.R. 2314, the “Akaka Bill” Dear Senator Alexander, In a few short months, my second term as Governor of Hawaii will conclude and I will return to private life. I had sincerely hoped that the campaign to afford federal recognition toNative Hawaiians through the “Akaka Bill” would reach a successful conclusion before I left office. As many will recall, I have traveled to Washington often to express my support for the Akaka Bill over the past eight...

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Prejudice in Paradise Hawaii Has a Racism Problem By Larry Keller Celia Padron went on a Hawaiian vacation last year, lured by the prospect of beautiful beaches and friendly people. She, her husband and two teenage daughters enjoyed the black sand beach at Makena State Park on Maui. But a Hawaiian girl accosted her two teenage daughters, saying, "Go back to the mainland" and "Take your white ass off our beaches," says Padron, a pediatric gastroenterologist in New Jersey. When her husband, 68 at the time, stepped between the girls, three young Hawaiian men slammed him against a vehicle, cutting...

[Today, a letter was sent to Congressional leaders by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, opposing the establishment of a new race-based government in Hawaii.] Dear Distinguished Members of Congress: Three years ago, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report opposing the passage of the proposed Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act. Although that report focused on an earlier version of the proposed legislation, that earlier version was substantially similar to S. 1011. Specifically, the report stated: “The Commission recommends against passage of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act ... or any other legislation that would discriminate on the basis...

Price of Apology: Clinton, Obama, and the Hawaiian Quid Pro Quo The bill to create a Hawaiian Indian reservation is a financial boondoggle. But state bigwigs hope contributions will persuade Obama or Clinton to sign it if elected. March 22, 2008 - by Andrew Walden Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers With Tony Rezko on trial, the national media is beginning to skim the surface of the dirty deals paving the rapid ascent of Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama. But Chicago, Syria, and Iraq are not the only places to look. There is also a $9-billion story in Hawaii...

Hawaii is a separated land and not just because it consists of over 130 scattered points of land stretching 1,600 miles. Within the state a large battle still rages over 100 years after Hawaii’s annexation and nearly 50 years after gaining statehood. The battle is over the status of native Hawaiians. The Native Hawaiian Recognition Act (the Akaka Bill) would give native Hawaiians the same federal recognition as Native Americans and Native Alaskans. A win for this bill in Congress would be a huge boost to Kamehameha Schools and their pending lawsuit. Kamehameha Schools admits applicants of any background, as...

OHA advances plan for Hawaiian self-rule by Nancy Cook Lauer Stephens Media Group nclauer@stephensmedia.com Friday, June 23, 2006 9:08 AM HST HONOLULU -- Just two weeks after the U.S. Senate refused to consider self-rule for Native Hawaiians, the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Thursday unanimously advanced a plan to create a new Hawaiian government by the end of 2007. Most of the details of the ambitious plan were discussed during a closed-door session with OHA attorneys. The trustees then opened the meeting for a formal vote. But a draft copy of "Hooulu Lahui Aloha, to...

Sen. Akaka’s plan to beat Jack Abramoff at his own game by Andrew Walden, Editor, Hawaii Free Press, Hilo, Hawaii The Akaka Bill is back, scheduled for debate on the floor of the US Senate any day now. Bill sponsor, Senator Daniel Akaka says, “This is about establishing parity for Hawaii’s indigenous peoples in federal policies.” Native Hawaiians may want to consider whether “parity” with American Indians is desirable. Are Native Hawaiians to be “privileged” --or held back-- by the Akaka Bill? Indian reservations are not exactly a great model of success—they are often characterized by poverty and corruption, often...

America's motto is "E pluribus unum," Latin for "Out of many, one." Some U.S. senators seem to be reading it backward. This week the Senate will consider legislation that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians. If the bill becomes law, it would create a racial spoils system that would hand special privileges to up to one-fifth of the state's population--including many with only a trace of Hawaiian blood. It could inspire mainland groups such as Hispanic separatists to seek similar spoils, should they ever gain enough political leverage.

The last time we wrote about the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, in July 2005, we called it secessionist, unconstitutional and un-American. And that was being kind. Our view of the bill -- which, like Freddy Krueger, refuses to die -- hasn't changed. But now that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has promised to bring it to a cloture vote in the coming days, it's worth reminding readers what this ugly drama from the beautiful state is all about. The Reorganization Act -- better known as the Akaka Bill, after its U.S. Senate sponsor, Democrat Daniel Akaka -- would create...

HONOLULU -- After six years of trying, Sen. Daniel Akaka hopes to finally see a vote in the Senate this week on one of the hardest-fought measures of his congressional career -- his bill to grant his fellow Native Hawaiians federal recognition. "It will have a historical impact," said Akaka, D-Hawaii. "It affects Hawaii, the Pacific, the nation." The measure is tentatively scheduled for debate Monday night and Tuesday, with a vote on Wednesday. Akaka and Hawaii's other Democratic senator, Daniel Inouye, say there are enough votes for approval. It would grant Native Hawaiians the same rights of self-government enjoyed...

By RON STATON, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 17, 3:05 PM ET HONOLULU - After six years of trying, Sen. Daniel Akaka (news, bio, voting record) hopes to finally see a vote in the Senate this week on one of the hardest-fought measures of his congressional career — his bill to grant his fellow Native Hawaiians federal recognition. "It will have a historical impact," said Akaka, D-Hawaii. "It affects Hawaii, the Pacific, the nation." The measure is tentatively scheduled for debate Monday night and Tuesday, with a vote on Wednesday. Akaka and Hawaii's other Democratic senator, Daniel Inouye, say there...

As well-informed readers of Townhall know, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin debate soon on S. 147, the falsely named “Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005.” The proponents of this bill, some motivated by seemingly benign purposes and others by simple greed, argue that the legislation redresses ancient wrongs done to early Hawaiians by the United States. The bill purports to authorize the creation of an exclusively race-based government of so-called “native” Hawaiians to exercise sovereignty over native Hawaiians living anywhere in the United States. This “Native Hawaiian Government” supposedly could exempt these Hawaiians from whatever aspects of...

On the heels of apologizing for its old racism in thwarting anti-lynching laws, the U.S. Senate is poised to initiate a new racism celebrated in the so-called "Akaka Bill." It would summon into being for the first time a race-based Native Hawaiian sovereignty operating outside the U.S. Constitution. Only persons with at least "one drop" of Native Hawaiian blood would enjoy the right to create the new sovereign entity with its sweeping immunities from federal and state laws. The Akaka bill would authorize and have the United States facilitate Hawaiian officials in relinquishing the State's sovereignty over a portion of...

Aztlan -- have you ever heard of it? You know, the nation that encompasses what used to be all of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and southern Colorado as well as most of Northern Mexico. There is no such nation you say? Well, a University of New Mexico Chicano Studies professor named Charles Truxillo says that it is “an inevitability.” The influx of illegal aliens, especially from Mexico, that come and settle in that general area is seen as a precursor for the formation of this new nation. By establishing themselves in overwhelming numbers they intend to create such a...