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108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4282
To express the policy of the United States regarding the United States
relationship with Native Hawaiians and to provide a process for the
recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian governing
entity, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 5, 2004
Mr. Abercrombie (for himself, Mr. Case, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Young of
Alaska, and Mr. Faleomavaega) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To express the policy of the United States regarding the United States
relationship with Native Hawaiians and to provide a process for the
recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian governing
entity, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Native Hawaiian Government
Reorganization Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Constitution vests Congress with the authority to
address the conditions of the indigenous, native people of the
United States;
(2) Native Hawaiians, the native people of the Hawaiian
archipelago that is now part of the United States, are
indigenous, native people of the United States;
(3) the United States has a special political and legal
responsibility to promote the welfare of the native people of
the United States, including Native Hawaiians;
(4) under the treaty making power of the United States,
Congress exercised its constitutional authority to confirm
treaties between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii,
and from 1826 until 1893, the United States--
(A) recognized the sovereignty of the Kingdom of
Hawaii;
(B) accorded full diplomatic recognition to the
Kingdom of Hawaii; and
(C) entered into treaties and conventions with the
Kingdom of Hawaii to govern commerce and navigation in
1826, 1842, 1849, 1875, and 1887;
(5) pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42
Stat. 108, chapter 42), the United States set aside
approximately 203,500 acres of land to address the conditions
of Native Hawaiians in the Federal territory that later became
the State of Hawaii;
(6) by setting aside 203,500 acres of land for Native
Hawaiian homesteads and farms, the Hawaiian Homes Commission
Act assists the members of the Native Hawaiian community in
maintaining distinct native settlements throughout the State of
Hawaii;
(7) approximately 6,800 Native Hawaiian families reside on
the Hawaiian Home Lands and approximately 18,000 Native
Hawaiians who are eligible to reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands
are on a waiting list to receive assignments of Hawaiian Home
Lands;
(8)(A) in 1959, as part of the compact with the United
States admitting Hawaii into the Union, Congress established a
public trust (commonly known as the ``ceded lands trust''), for
5 purposes, 1 of which is the betterment of the conditions of
Native Hawaiians;
(B) the public trust consists of lands, including submerged
lands, natural resources, and the revenues derived from the
lands; and
(C) the assets of this public trust have never been
completely inventoried or segregated;
(9) Native Hawaiians have continuously sought access to the
ceded lands in order to establish and maintain native
settlements and distinct native communities throughout the
State;
(10) the Hawaiian Home Lands and other ceded lands provide
an important foundation for the ability of the Native Hawaiian
community to maintain the practice of Native Hawaiian culture,
language, and traditions, and for the survival and economic
self-sufficiency of the Native Hawaiian people;
(11) Native Hawaiians continue to maintain other distinctly
native areas in Hawaii;
(12) on November 23, 1993, Public Law 103-150 (107 Stat.
1510) (commonly known as the ``Apology Resolution'') was
enacted into law, extending an apology on behalf of the United
States to the native people of Hawaii for the United States'
role in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii;
(13) the Apology Resolution acknowledges that the overthrow
of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation
of agents and citizens of the United States and further
acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly
relinquished to the United States their claims to their
inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands,
either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or
referendum;
(14) the Apology Resolution expresses the commitment of
Congress and the President--
(A) to acknowledge the ramifications of the
overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii;
(B) to support reconciliation efforts between the
United States and Native Hawaiians; and
(C) to consult with Native Hawaiians on the
reconciliation process as called for in the Apology
Resolution;
(15) despite the overthrow of the government of the Kingdom
of Hawaii, Native Hawaiians have continued to maintain their
separate identity as a distinct native community through
cultural, social, and political institutions, and to give
expression to their rights as native people to self-
determination, self-governance, and economic self-sufficiency;
(16) Native Hawaiians have also given expression to their
rights as native people to self-determination, self-governance,
and economic self-sufficiency--
(A) through the provision of governmental services
to Native Hawaiians, including the provision of--
(i) health care services;
(ii) educational programs;
(iii) employment and training programs;
(iv) economic development assistance
programs;
(v) children's services;
(vi) conservation programs;
(vii) fish and wildlife protection;
(viii) agricultural programs;
(ix) native language immersion programs;
(x) native language immersion schools from
kindergarten through high school;
(xi) college and master's degree programs
in native language immersion instruction;
(xii) traditional justice programs, and
(B) by continuing their efforts to enhance Native
Hawaiian self-determination and local control;
(17) Native Hawaiians are actively engaged in Native
Hawaiian cultural practices, traditional agricultural methods,
fishing and subsistence practices, maintenance of cultural use
areas and sacred sites, protection of burial sites, and the
exercise of their traditional rights to gather medicinal plants
and herbs, and food sources;
(18) the Native Hawaiian people wish to preserve, develop,
and transmit to future generations of Native Hawaiians their
lands and Native Hawaiian political and cultural identity in
accordance with their traditions, beliefs, customs and
practices, language, and social and political institutions, to
control and manage their own lands, including ceded lands, and
to achieve greater self-determination over their own affairs;
(19) this Act provides a process within the framework of
Federal law for the Native Hawaiian people to exercise their
inherent rights as a distinct, indigenous, native community to
reorganize a Native Hawaiian governing entity for the purpose
of giving expression to their rights as native people to self-
determination and self-governance;
(20) Congress--
(A) has declared that the United States has a
special responsibility for the welfare of the native
peoples of the United States, including Native
Hawaiians;
(B) has identified Native Hawaiians as a distinct
group of indigenous, native people of the United States
within the scope of its authority under the
Constitution, and has enacted scores of statutes on
their behalf; and
(C) has delegated broad authority to the State of
Hawaii to administer some of the United States'
responsibilities as they relate to the Native Hawaiian
people and their lands;
(21) the United States has recognized and reaffirmed the
special political and legal relationship with the Native
Hawaiian people through the enactment of the Act entitled, ``An
Act to provide for the admission of the State of Hawaii into
the Union'', approved March 18, 1959 (Public Law 86-3; 73 Stat.
4), by--
(A) ceding to the State of Hawaii title to the
public lands formerly held by the United States, and
mandating that those lands be held as a public trust
for 5 purposes, 1 of which is for the betterment of the
conditions of Native Hawaiians; and
(B) transferring the United States' responsibility
for the administration of the Hawaiian Home Lands to
the State of Hawaii, but retaining the authority to
enforce the trust, including the exclusive right of the
United States to consent to any actions affecting the
lands that comprise the corpus of the trust and any
amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920
(42 Stat. 108, chapter 42) that are enacted by the
legislature of the State of Hawaii affecting the
beneficiaries under the Act;
(22) the United States has continually recognized and
reaffirmed that--
(A) Native Hawaiians have a cultural, historic, and
land-based link to the aboriginal, indigenous, native
people who exercised sovereignty over the Hawaiian
Islands;
(B) Native Hawaiians have never relinquished their
claims to sovereignty or their sovereign lands;
(C) the United States extends services to Native
Hawaiians because of their unique status as the
indigenous, native people of a once-sovereign nation
with whom the United States has a political and legal
relationship; and
(D) the special trust relationship of American
Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians to the
United States arises out of their status as aboriginal,
indigenous, native people of the United States; and
(23) the State of Hawaii supports the reaffirmation of the
political and legal relationship between the Native Hawaiian
governing entity and the United States as evidenced by 2
unanimous resolutions enacted by the Hawaii State Legislature
in the 2000 and 2001 sessions of the Legislature and by the
testimony of the Governor of the State of Hawaii before the
Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate on February 25, 2003.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Aboriginal, indigenous, native people.--The term
``aboriginal, indigenous, native people'' means people whom
Congress has recognized as the original inhabitants of the
lands that later became part of the United States and who
exercised sovereignty in the areas that later became part of
the United States.
(2) Adult member.--The term ``adult member'' means a Native
Hawaiian who has attained the age of 18 and who elects to
participate in the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian
governing entity.
(3) Apology resolution.--The term ``Apology Resolution''
means Public Law 103-150, (107 Stat. 1510), a Joint Resolution
extending an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the
United States for the participation of agents of the United
States in the January 17, 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of
Hawaii.
(4) Commission.--The term ``commission'' means the
Commission established under section 7(b) to provide for the
certification that those adult members of the Native Hawaiian
community listed on the roll meet the definition of Native
Hawaiian set forth in section 3(8).
(5) Council.--The term ``council'' means the Native
Hawaiian Interim Governing Council established under section
7(c)(2).
(6) Indigenous, native people.--The term ``indigenous,
native people'' means the lineal descendants of the aboriginal,
indigenous, native people of the United States.
(7) Interagency coordinating group.--The term ``Interagency
Coordinating Group'' means the Native Hawaiian Interagency
Coordinating Group established under section 6.
(8) Native hawaiian.--For the purpose of establishing the
roll authorized under section 7(c)(1) and before the
reaffirmation of the political and legal relationship between
the United States and the Native Hawaiian governing entity, the
term ``Native Hawaiian'' means--
(A) an individual who is one of the indigenous,
native people of Hawaii and who is a direct lineal
descendant of the aboriginal, indigenous, native people
who--
(i) resided in the islands that now
comprise the State of Hawaii on or before
January 1, 1893; and
(ii) occupied and exercised sovereignty in
the Hawaiian archipelago, including the area
that now constitutes the State of Hawaii; or
(B) an individual who is one of the indigenous,
native people of Hawaii and who was eligible in 1921
for the programs authorized by the Hawaiian Homes
Commission Act (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42) or a direct
lineal descendant of that individual.
(9) Native hawaiian governing entity.--The term ``Native
Hawaiian Governing Entity'' means the governing entity
organized by the Native Hawaiian people pursuant to this Act.
(10) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the United States
Office for Native Hawaiian Relations established under section
5(a).
(11) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Department of the Interior.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY AND PURPOSE.
(a) Policy.--The United States reaffirms that--
(1) Native Hawaiians are a unique and distinct, indigenous,
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