Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 2, 1 February 1993 — News from Washington D.C. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

News from Washington D.C.

Mai Wakinekona Mai

by Paul Alexander Washington, D.C. Counsel for OHA

Ouilook for Hawaiian matters in Congress: 'wait and see' time

1993 brings with it a new Congress and a new president. Expectations are always great at the beginning of a power transition. Not only will power move from Republicans to Democrats, but as many observers have pointed out, from one generation to another: from the

generation that eame of age during World War II to the generation associated with the Vietnam era. In Washington, interest groups are seeking to determine what this change will mean

for them and how to influence the process of change. A healthy "wait and see" attitude is always a good idea with political predictions, at least until there are clear-cut policies and legislative and financial facts available. Still, the early indications for Native American issues, including native Hawaiian concerns, are positive. When the U.S. House of Representatitves began its organization, the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, now the Natural Resources

Committee, created a full subcommittee on Native American Affairs. (The last time there was a subcommittee on Indian affairs was in 1975.) Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), who was one of the leading candidates to be President Clinton's Secretary of the Interior, was

named as subcommittee chairman. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawai'i) and Eni Faleomavaenga (DAmerican Samoa) were named as members. The subcommittee is expected to raise

the attention level in the House on Native American issues. It will be the working counterpart to the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, whieh as before will be chaired by Hawai'i's senior senator, Daniel K. Inouye. Also on the expanded 18-member committee is Sen. Daniel K. Akaka. Until this Congress, Sen. Akaka, a native Hawaiian, had been the only Native American member of the Senate. He is now joined in the Senate and on

the Select Committee on Indian Affairs by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, an American Indian Democrat newly-elected from Colorado. Here are some of the significant actions affecting native Hawaiians that Congress will consider early this year: • Sen. Akaka is expected to reintroduce what has been termed "the Apology" joint congressional resolution that aeknowledges the United States' involvement in the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani in 1893. • The Select Committee on Indian Affairs will hold a hearing Feb. 4 in Honolulu on a legislative package designed to enhanee the protection of Native American religious freedom. (Editor's note: See article elsewhere in this issue.) • And, this spring, Chairman Inouye will sponsor on behalf of the Select Committee, a Hawai'i statewide native Hawaiian education summit to address key issues. Native Hawaiian constitutional status Perhaps no issue has been more controversial and fundamental than the constitutional status of native Hawaiians. The

Select Committee and the Hawai'i delegation have advocated the view that the U.S. has a special trust relationship to native peoples, including native Hawaiians. The Reagan/Bush administrations have maintained that native Hawaiians are simply a racial group and that it would be unconstitutional to provide special benefits to them. As native Hawaiians are aware, this dispute has at times been the source of significant conflict impeding legislation and funding for native Hawaiians. Although the Clinton administration's views on the trust issue are not yet known, there seems to be at least the general willingness to consult with Native Americans before adopting policies affecting them. As the key cabinet official, Secretary of the Interior-designate Babbitt was to be asked, at his confirmation hearing Jan. 19 before the Senate Energy Committee (Sen. Akaka is a member) and on Jan. 21 before the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, about his views concerning the United States' trust responsibility to native Hawaiians. Part of the process of consultation on evolving a coherent

native Hawaiian policy hopefully will include reference to the native Hawaiian plank in the Democratic Party platform, and the policy recommendation from the National Congress of American Indians to the ClintonGore transition staff supporting native Hawaiian claims and the restoration of self-governance for native Hawaiians, as well as consultations with Hawai'i's Congressional delegation and the native Hawaiian community. Time alone will tell how favorable a climate the Clinton-Gore administration will prove for native Hawaiian advances.

The Clinton-Gore transition team is looking for resumes of native Hawaiians for appointment to positions concerning native Hawaiian interests as well as other appointed positions. Persons interested should quickly forward their resume to: Clinton-Gore Transition Team 1 120 Vermont Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 Attention: Susan Brophy