95
THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  URGING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO SHARE IN THE COST OF
    CONDUCTING A COMPREHENSIVE INVENTORY OF CEDED LANDS IN THE
    STATE OF HAWAII.
 


 1        WHEREAS, in 1959, the U.S. Congress approved Hawaii's
 2   entry into the United States as its fiftieth state of the
 3   union; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, the formal legislation for this admittance into
 6   the union was known as the Admission Act (Public Law 86-3); and
 7   
 8        WHEREAS, the Admission Act transferred the title of lands
 9   controlled by the Territory of Hawaii to the State of Hawaii;
10   and
11   
12        WHEREAS, these lands are commonly referred to as the
13   public or ceded land trust; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, as a condition of admittance, the State of Hawaii
16   was to manage these lands as a public trust, the benefit of
17   which were to be used for purposes delineated in section 5(f)
18   of the Admission Act; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, one of these purposes requires the State of
21   Hawaii to utilize a portion of the revenues derived from the
22   ceded land trust for the "betterment of conditions of native
23   Hawaiians, as defined under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act
24   of 1920, as amended"; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, while the Admission Act was fairly explicit as to
27   the types of lands to be conveyed to the State of Hawaii, it
28   was not explicit as to the specific acreages or locations of
29   the lands that actually comprised the ceded land trust; and
30   
31        WHEREAS, in other words, while Congress did intend to
32   transfer title of certain federally-controlled lands and lands
33   formerly held by the Territory of Hawaii, no comprehensive
34   inventory of these lands was ever completed prior to the

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   transfer; and
 2   
 3        WHEREAS, in an effort to resolve this problem, the State
 4   of Hawaii, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and many Hawaiian
 5   organizations have long sought assistance from the federal
 6   government; and
 7   
 8        WHEREAS, during the 1980s and early 1990s, many
 9   impediments arose at the federal level to resolving issues
10   regarding ceded lands and Hawaiian political status; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, in 1983, the federal Native Hawaiian Study
13   Commission Majority Report concluded that the federal
14   government was not liable for the loss of sovereignty or lands
15   arising from the overthrow, and in 1989, the Bush
16   administration disavowed the position of the Carter
17   administration that there was a trust relationship between the
18   Hawaiian people and the federal government; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, in early 1993, the Department of the Interior's
21   Solicitor's Office issued a legal opinion that the federal
22   government "had no trust responsibilities to the native
23   Hawaiians either before Statehood or thereafter; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, however, the Clinton Administration has taken a
26   more thoughtful view of federal responsibilities relating to
27   Hawaiians, rescinding the Department of the Interior's legal
28   opinion and enacting Public Law 103-150, commonly referred to
29   as the "Apology Resolution"; and
30   
31        WHEREAS, other federal efforts sympathetic to the Hawaiian
32   people have included the return of Kaho'olawe in 1994 and the
33   creation by the Office of Management and Budget of a distinct
34   category of Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders for federal
35   purposes; and
36   
37        WHEREAS, with this renewed sense of responsibility by the
38   federal government for its past actions and the pressing need
39   for resolving controversies that stem from disputes over what
40   lands are actually included within the ceded land trust
41   authorized by Congress under the Admission Act, a collaborative
42   effort to establish a comprehensive ceded land inventory must

 
 
 
 
 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   be undertaken by the federal government, the State of Hawaii,
 2   and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; now, therefore,
 3   
 4        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 5   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
 6   Representatives concurring, that the federal government is
 7   urged to share in the cost of conducting a comprehensive
 8   inventory of ceded lands in the State of Hawaii; and
 9   
10        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President of the United
11   States and Congress support the expeditious completion of the
12   ceded lands inventory by appropriating adequate funds and
13   providing any necessary services and equipment; and
14   
15        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
16   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the
17   United States, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate,
18   the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the
19   Governor of the State of Hawaii, and the Trustees of the Office
20   of Hawaiian Affairs.
21 
22 
23 
24                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________