THINK THE LIVES OF HAWAIIANS WOULD IMPROVE UNDER THE "SPECIAL TRUST RELATIONSHIP" FEDERAL RECOGNITION WOULD BRING ?
Just look at these comments from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee March 11, 2003 letter to the Budget Committee justifying their budget request for fiscal year 2004 -
"Native people in the U.S. continue to rank at or near the bottom of nearly every social, health, and economic indicator, as compared to all other citizens.
"Natives continue to suffer the highest rates of unemployment and poverty, live in substandard housing, have poor health, receive an inadequate education, and contend with disintegrating social systems, all of which erode both the quality and dignity of life in Native communities.
"The educational attainment for Native youth is deficient compared with other groups in the U.S.
"There is also unmet demand for electricity in Native communities: a recent Department of Energy report estimated that 14.2% of all Native homes on reservations have no access to electricity compared to just 1.4% of all U.S. households.
"With unemployment averaging 43% and poverty rampant, Native communities are particularly sensitive to high energy prices.
"Given the near-complete absence of a private sector in most Native communities, 31.2 % of Natives live in poverty.
"In the U.S. today, the unemployment rate is 5.8%, whereas the rate for Natives is near 50% --- twice that of the national unemployment rate in the Great Depression."
Who In Their Right Mind Would Want Federal Recognition If This Is The Result?
