WILL THIS LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER GET PUBLISHED?
July 09, 2004
Editor,
Re: the "Akaka Bill In Danger of Failing" (July 8, 2004), the bill will continue to fail, as it has for the past 5 years, and, in different forms under Senator Inouye, for more than a decade, because now, more than ever, the Washington, DC powers-that –be know there is overwhelming opposition here at home.
With much aloha and all due respect to our Congressional Delegation, and all federally funded supporters of federal recognition, we must denounce the desperate and futile attempts to tag this pono`ole, unacceptable, bill onto major legislation that needs to be passed.
The reality, revealed during our recent visit to Capitol Hill, is that the Akaka bill, S.344 has been, and is going nowhere this session.
Koani Foundation directors, and many other Native Hawaiians, traveled to DC in May, in conjunction the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. We met face-to-face with numerous Congressional offices and the US Departments of Justice and Interior. We successfully shared the huge opposition that exists to the bill at home in Hawai`i – and - we got more than we anticipated. Everyone aware of the “Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act”, staffers for Senators Frist, McCain, Kyle, Domenici and many others, agreed there is absolutely no chance of passage this session.
At that time we were informed, despite heavy propaganda in Hawai`i to the contrary, S.344 has not been heard on the Senate floor; Senator Kyle’s hold remained in place, would not be lifted and could not be circumvented by any number of votes; Senator Frist has no intention of scheduling it even if the hold were lifted; - and - Indian Affairs Chair Senator McCain, himself, does not support the bill.
Even some of our own Congressional staff people had to concede that little or nothing will be achieved during this pre-election session, including the Akaka bill. To them, we repeated our continuing opposition to dysfunctional federal recognition. We also repeated our continuing dedication to working together, with the stakeholders, towards an appropriate governance form; one that we can support.
Kai’opua Fyfe, Director
The Koani Foundation
Lihu’e, Kaua’i
