Report Title:

Hawaiian Affairs Task Force; Establishment

WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians have a cultural, historic, and land-based link to the indigenous people who exercised sovereignty over the Hawaiian Islands, and lived in a highly organized, self-sufficient, subsistent social system based on communal land tenure with a sophisticated language, culture, and religion; and

WHEREAS, Public Law 103-150 states that Native Hawaiians never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States, either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum; and

WHEREAS, in the amicus brief filed by the United States in Rice v. Cayetano, the United States concluded that it has a trust obligation to indigenous Hawaiians because it bears a responsibility for the destruction of their government and the unconsented and uncompensated taking of their lands; and

WHEREAS, Congress from as early as 1921 has enacted a number of statutes establishing programs and extending services to Native Hawaiians not based on their race, but in recognition of this trust obligation owed to Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, in the 1959 Admissions Act, Congress entered into a compact with the State of Hawaii and ceded public lands, comprised of the former crown and government lands of the Kingdom of Hawaii, to the State of Hawaii to be held in trust for the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians as defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act; and

WHEREAS, Congress also transferred the United States responsibility for the administration of the Hawaiian Home Lands to the State of Hawaii under the Admissions Act, but retained the authority to enforce the trust, including the exclusive right of the United States to consent to any actions affecting the lands which comprise the corpus of the trust and any amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 that are enacted by the legislature of the State of Hawaii affecting the beneficiaries under the Act; and

WHEREAS, Native Hawaiian entitlements have come under attack in recent years as evidenced by the recent rulings by the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Rice v. Cayetano, which opened voting for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to all voters and the federal court decision in Arakaki v. State, which opened the position of Office of Hawaiian Affairs' trustees to candidates from all ethnic backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, the most recent federal case, Barrett v. State, seeks to destroy the Hawaiian Home Lands program, abolish the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and ban the traditional and customary rights of Hawaiians exercised for subsistence, cultural, and religious purposes; and

WHEREAS, the primary reason these cases attack Native Hawaiians and Native Hawaiian assets is because they are held by the State; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature cannot alter the filing of these cases in federal court, but it can recognize that a threat to the Native Hawaiian people exists and that remedies must be structured to neutralize any adverse effects caused by the cases' outcome; and

WHEREAS, although the primary remedy will be at the federal level, the State should take whatever actions necessary to ensure that the State Constitution, laws, and policies regarding and impacting Native Hawaiians continue to be properly implemented; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature believes that the future of the Native Hawaiian people lies in the immediate resolution of these complex legal, political, and social issues; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that the leadership of the Hawaii State Senate and the House of Representatives convene a joint task force on Hawaiian affairs to study the issues, the options, and make recommendations on ways to deal with the legal challenges facing the Native Hawaiian people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a joint committee comprised of members from the Senate and House of Representatives chair the Hawaiian affairs task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint committee shall consist of four members, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chairs of the Senate and House standing committees having primary subject matter jurisdiction over Hawaiian affairs, or their designees; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint committee is requested to convene and chair a task force on Hawaiian affairs that shall not exceed fifteen members; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force shall be appointed by the joint committee, but shall include representatives from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the State Hawaiian Homestead Council Association, Ka Lahui Hawaii, and the 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition, and other Hawaiian organizations, government or non-government, as the joint committee finds appropriate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall include representatives from all four counties; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force shall be appointed, and the first meeting convened, no later than thirty days after the adjournment of the 2001 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of the Attorney General shall assign deputy attorneys general to the task force, as necessary, to attend the meetings and provide legal advice to the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the mission of the task force shall be to provide fact-finding and recommendations to the Legislature at the next Regular Session on the impacts the federal case law, most notably Rice v. Cayetano, Arakaki v. State, and Barrett v. State, on the future of the Native Hawaiian people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the specific tasks to be accomplished by the task force include:

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairs of the Senate and House committees having primary jurisdiction over Hawaiian affairs, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Attorney General, the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, the State Hawaiian Homestead Council Association, Ka Lahui Hawaii, and the 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition.