Associated Press - Dec 16, 2009
Gov. Linda Lingle strongly opposes proposed changes to legislation in Congress that would grant federal recognition to native Hawaiians, state Attorney General Mark Bennett said yesterday.
In a letter to the ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, Bennett said he and Lingle have long supported the so-called Akaka Bill, named after US Sen. Daniel Akaka, the measure's chief sponsor.
But he said changes proposed by US Rep. Neil Abercrombie to the House version of the bill would unacceptably alter the relationships between federal and state governments and the native Hawaiian governing entity the measure would create.
"This creates a whole set of unknowns," Bennett said in an interview yesterday. "We welcome an opportunity to have a discussion (about) the changes and the impact, but were never afforded that."
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=decd635d-1453-4ddc-bc3d-6d04bb53abdd)
