Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005
UNA asks that you do your part in contacting your federal representatives to
pass H.R.309 bill!!
United States House of Representatives, 109th Congress, 1st Session: Member We
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
H.R.309
Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)
January 25, 2005
Mr. ABERCROMBIE (for himself, Mr. CASE, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA,
Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mr. GRIJALVA) 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. 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
2005'.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 paragraph (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 by section 5(a).(11)
SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 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, native people with whom the United States has a
special political and legal relationship;(2) the United States has a special
political and legal relationship with the Native Hawaiian people which includes
promoting the welfare of Native Hawaiians;(3) Congress possesses the authority
under the Constitution, including but not limited to Article I, section 8,
clause 3, to enact legislation to address the conditions of Native Hawaiians and
has exercised this authority through the enactment of--(A) the Hawaiian Homes
Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42);(B) 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); and(C) more than 150 other Federal laws
addressing the conditions of Native Hawaiians;(4) Native Hawaiians have--(A) an
inherent right to autonomy in their internal affairs;(B) an inherent right of
self-determination and self-governance;(C) the right to reorganize a Native
Hawaiian governing entity; and(D) the right to become economically
self-sufficient; and(5) the United States shall continue to engage in a process
of reconciliation and political relations with the Native Hawaiian people.(b)
Purpose- The purpose of this Act is to provide a process for the reorganization
of the Native Hawaiian governing entity and the reaffirmation of the political
and legal relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiian
governing entity for purposes of continuing a government-to-government
relationship.SEC. 5. UNITED STATES OFFICE FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN RELATIONS.
(a) Establishment- There is established within the Office of the Secretary, the
United States Office for Native Hawaiian Relations.(b) Duties- The Office
shall--(1) continue the process of reconciliation with the Native Hawaiian
people in furtherance of the Apology Resolution;(2) upon the reaffirmation of
the political and legal relationship between the Native Hawaiian governing
entity and the United States, effectuate and coordinate the special political
and legal relationship between the Native Hawaiian governing entity and the
United States through the Secretary, and with all other Federal agencies;(3)
fully integrate the principle and practice of meaningful, regular, and
appropriate consultation with the Native Hawaiian governing entity by providing
timely notice to, and consulting with, the Native Hawaiian people and the Native
Hawaiian governing entity before taking any actions that may have the potential
to significantly affect Native Hawaiian resources, rights, or lands;(4) consult
with the Interagency Coordinating Group, other Federal agencies, the Governor of
the State of Hawaii and relevant agencies of the State of Hawaii on policies,
practices, and proposed actions affecting Native Hawaiian resources, rights, or
lands; and(5) prepare and submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on
Resources of the House of Representatives an annual report detailing the
activities of the Interagency Coordinating Group that are undertaken with
respect to the continuing process of reconciliation and to effect meaningful
consultation with the Native Hawaiian governing entity and providing
recommendations for any necessary changes to Federal law or regulations
promulgated under the authority of Federal law.SEC. 6. NATIVE HAWAIIAN
INTERAGENCY COORDINATING GROUP.
(a) Establishment- In recognition that Federal programs authorized to address
the conditions of Native Hawaiians are largely administered by Federal agencies
other than the Department of the Interior, there is established an interagency
coordinating group to be known as the `Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating
Group'.(b) Composition- The Interagency Coordinating Group shall be composed of
officials, to be designated by the President, from--(1) each Federal agency that
administers Native Hawaiian programs, establishes or implements policies that
affect Native Hawaiians, or whose actions may significantly or uniquely impact
Native Hawaiian resources, rights, or lands; and(2) the Office.(c) Lead
Agency-(1) IN GENERAL- The Department of the Interior shall serve as the lead
agency of the Interagency Coordinating Group.(2) MEETINGS- The Secretary shall
convene meetings of the Interagency Coordinating Group.(d) Duties- The
Interagency Coordinating Group shall--(1) coordinate Federal programs and
policies that affect Native Hawaiians or actions by any agency or agencies of
the Federal Government that may significantly or uniquely affect Native Hawaiian
resources, rights, or lands;
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