HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	264
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

requesting the center for pacific island studies at the university of hawaii at manoa to establish a task force to identify and address the needs of pacific islanders in hawaii.

     WHEREAS, the Center for Pacific Island Studies within the School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is the only congressionally‑recognized national resource center for the study of the Pacific Islands; and

     WHEREAS, the Center for Pacific Island Studies, with its forty-two core and affiliate faculty members, possesses unparalleled expertise in the field of Pacific Island studies; and

     WHEREAS, the Center for Pacific Island Studies serves the Pacific region and its people through its commitment to the dynamic, active, and constructive exchange of knowledge on the Pacific Islands; and

     WHEREAS, it functions as both an academic department and a larger base for initiatives that bring together people and resources to promote an understanding of the Pacific Islands and issues of concern to Pacific Islanders, including the Pacific Islanders currently residing within Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, according to a Census 2000 Brief, the Pacific Islander population is 283,000 in Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, three of Hawaii's five counties were more than twenty-five per cent Pacific Islander, with the remaining two counties between twenty and twenty-five per cent; and

     WHEREAS, there is a need to identify and address the needs of Pacific Islanders in Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, the Center for Pacific Island Studies would be the appropriate choice to convene and lead a task force to identify and address the needs of Pacific Islanders in Hawaii; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Center for Pacific Island Studies is requested to convene and lead a task force to identify and address the needs of Pacific Islanders in Hawaii; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report, including any proposed legislation, to this body no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2008 Regular Session; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Dean of the School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Pacific Islanders; Task Force