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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION

RECOGNIZING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ORDER TO
   STOP THE BOMBING OF KAHO'OLAWE.



 1       WHEREAS, this year will mark the tenth anniversary when
 2   United States (U.S.) President George Bush directed U.S.
 3   Secretary of Defense on October 22,1990, to discontinue use of
 4   the island of Kaho'olawe as a weapons range, "effective
 5   immediately"; and
 6   
 7       WHEREAS, since Statehood, the Hawaii Legislature
 8   (Legislature) has introduced approximately 40 bills and
 9   resolutions calling for an end to military use and the return
10   of Kaho'olawe to the State of Hawaii (State); and
11   
12       WHEREAS, 24 years ago, when Native Hawaiians occupied the
13   island, Kaho'olawe became a public symbol for highlighting
14   Hawaiian issues; and
15   
16       WHEREAS, on February 11, 1977, for the first time in its
17   history, the Hawaii House of Representatives suspended its
18   rules to allow George Jarrett Helm to address members on a
19   substantive issue after adopting a resolution requesting the
20   U.S. Navy to immediately stop the bombing of Kaho'olawe; and
21   
22       WHEREAS, in 1978, a Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on
23   Kaho'olawe (Committee) published "Kaho'olawe: Aloha No: A
24   Legislative Study of the Island of Kaho'olawe" in which the
25   Committee found that:
26   
27       (1)  The Navy could not sufficiently support its claim for
28            needing the entire island of Kaho'olawe;
29   
30       (2)  The Navy should begin to cleanup the island; and
31   
32       (3)  Planting of native vegetation should begin;
33   
34   and
35   
36       WHEREAS, that same year, Governor George Ariyoshi signed a
37   Memorandum of Understanding with the Navy in which both the
38   State and the Navy agreed to work on programs to eliminate
39   goats, protect archeological sites, and revegetate the island;
40   and

 
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 1       WHEREAS, then, a court-ordered Consent Decree, which was
 2   signed by the Navy and the Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana,  granted
 3   access to the island and required the Navy to protect historic
 4   and cultural sites, clear surface ordnance, begin soil
 5   conservation programs, eradicate goats, and limit future
 6   ordnance training to the central part of the island; and
 7   
 8       WHEREAS, for over 20 years, beginning in 1980, the Protect
 9   Kaho'olawe Ohana has facilitated access to Kaho'olawe for
10   Native Hawaiians and the general public for religious,
11   educational, and scientific activities; and
12   
13       WHEREAS, in 1990, the U.S. Congress established the
14   Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission (KICC) to identify
15   terms and conditions for the return of the island to the State,
16   and members of the KICC were named by the Navy, the State, and
17   the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and
18   
19       WHEREAS, a year later, the KICC held numerous public
20   hearings statewide to gather public comments and suggestions
21   and contracted for 21 reports on Kaho'olawe's history, its
22   natural resources, the extent of unexploded ordnance, and the
23   estimated costs of clearance and restoration of the island; and
24   
25       WHEREAS, subsequently, the KICC submitted its final report
26   to Congress, and recommended that the island be returned to the
27   State, and that the United States should bear the costs for the
28   clearance and removal of ordnance and related waste, soil
29   conservation, revegetation, and other rehabilitation
30   activities; and
31   
32       WHEREAS, in 1993, the Legislature created the Kaho'olawe
33   Island Reserve, consisting of the island of Kaho'olawe and two
34   miles of its submerged lands and waters; the Legislature also
35   created the seven-member Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission
36   (KIRC) after finding that the island is of significant cultural
37   and historic importance to the native people of Hawaii, and
38   determining that "a new management regime" was needed to
39   effectively meet the challenges of restoring, preserving, and
40   determining the appropriate use of Kaho'olawe; and
41   
42       WHEREAS, six years ago, on May 7, 1994, the island of
43   Kaho'olawe was returned to the State during a formal conveyance
44   ceremony at Palauea Beach, Maui, after the Congress passed a
45   bill ending the bombing and requiring the Navy to return the
46   island and begin a cleanup of the unexploded ordnance; and

 
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 1   
 2       WHEREAS, in 1995, the KIRC held statewide meetings to
 3   incorporate public input: on the Kaho'olawe Use Plan which
 4   designates cultural education centers, trails, and other land
 5   uses; and on the KIRC's vision statement which calls for a
 6   restored land and ocean and the island serving as the
 7   "crossroads of past and future generations, from which the
 8   native Hawaiian lifestyle is spread"; and
 9   
10       WHEREAS, a year later, for the first time, the people of
11   Hawaii were able to learn in detail about the island in an
12   exhibit at the Bishop Museum which drew record crowds and
13   subsequently traveled to all the major islands and will be
14   exhibited in Washington D.C. next year; and
15   
16       WHEREAS, in 1997, the Navy named its contractor for the
17   $270 million cleanup; the KIRC released its Ocean Management
18   Plan, which calls for responsible use of the island's ocean
19   resources by establishing zones for different types of
20   culturally appropriate subsistence fishing; and a public
21   ceremony was held dedicating a traditional Hawaiian shrine to
22   increase the clouds and rain between Haleakala and Kaho'olawe
23   and help to revegetate the island; and
24   
25       WHEREAS, in 1998, a series of meetings across the State
26   allowed the public to comment on how the Navy was preparing to
27   conduct its cleanup of the island, and the KIRC completed its
28   Environmental Restoration Plan and began to purchase native
29   plants for planting near the summit of Lua Makika; and
30   
31       WHEREAS, during the past year, the KIRC launched Hakilo, a
32   workboat for monitoring reserve waters, and marine biologists
33   found the waters surrounding Kaho'olawe to be a significant
34   resource, which can serve as a bottom fish nursery for the
35   entire State; and
36   
37       WHEREAS, 20,000 plants were planted by volunteers to begin
38   the healing of the island, and more than 200 cleanup workers
39   were educated by the KIRC on how to be respectful and sensitive
40   to the island while they work there; and
41   
42       WHEREAS, in the next four years, the Navy and its
43   contractors will complete their cleanup operations, and the
44   KIRC and the State will assume full control of the island; and

 
 
 
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 1       WHEREAS, the KIRC is developing a cultural-educational
 2   plan, a risk management plan, and other important policies and
 3   procedures to allow meaningful, safe use of the island after
 4   the Navy departs; now, therefore,
 5   
 6       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
 7   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
 8   of 2000, that this body recognizes the tenth anniversary of the
 9   presidential order to stop the bombing on the island of
10   Kaho'olawe; and
11   
12       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body recognizes that a
13   significant record of achievement has been accomplished in the
14   10 years since the bombing has stopped, especially the
15   returning of the island of Kaho'olawe to the people of Hawaii;
16   and
17   
18       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that there be increased and
19   continued efforts to restore the island and ensure its future
20   as a rich, cultural, and environmental resource for all of
21   Hawaii's people; and
22   
23       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
24   Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's Congressional Delegation,
25   the Governor of the State of Hawaii, and members of the
26   Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission.  
27 
28 
29                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________