HEARINGS START MONDAY IN HAWAI`I ON FEDERAL RECOGNITION
US Department Of Interior Hearings In Hawai`i
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - June 18, 2014
The Obama administration is taking the first formal steps in a long process that could result in an official relationship between the federal government and a future Native Hawaiian governing entity.
The administration is scheduling public meetings in Hawai`i starting next week to gather feedback on the fundamental question of whether a government-to-government relationship should be re-established and, if so, how to go about doing that, Interior Department's Rhea Suh, assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, said Wednesday in a teleconference with reporters.
If pursued, the administration could accomplish what backers of the so-called Akaka Bill in Congress failed to do over more than a decade.
But any attempt by the administration to move toward the re-establishment of a government-to-government relationship is expected to be resisted by those who believe Obama is overstepping his authority as a way to bypass Congress, where many of his top domestic priorities have been blocked. It also likely would be opposed by those who insist that the federal government has no role in Hawaiians' right to political self-determination.
The issue would be complicated by the controversy over how and what form a Native Hawaiian government would take.
The Akaka Bill -- named after it's primary sponsor, former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, and first introduced in 1999 -- would have granted Native Hawaiians federal recognition similar to that of American Indians and Alaska natives.But the bill, which passed the House, never made it to the Senate floor for a vote. Akaka retired last year.
Once a 60-day comment period ends, the Obama administration must decide whether to pursue the re-establishment of a government-to-government relationship administratively and how that would be accomplished, then propose a rule to achieve that.
Throughout the process, Suh stressed, the administration will be seeking comments from Hawai`i residents.
