STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3060

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 109

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 109 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION HONORING UNITED STATES PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND FOR HIS SUPPORT OF THE HAWAIIAN MONARCHY AND EFFORTS TO PRESERVE THE HAWAIIAN KINGDOM, BY REQUESTING THE STATE OF HAWAII, CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU, COUNTY OF MAUI, COUNTY OF KAUAI, AND COUNTY OF HAWAII TO NAME A STATE OR COUNTY PROPERTY IN HIS NAME, AND REQUESTING THE STATE FOUNDATION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS TO COMMISSION A WORK OF ART, WHETHER VISUAL OR LITERARY, IN HIS NAME,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Honor United States President Grover Cleveland for his support of the Hawaiian monarchy and efforts to preserve the Hawaiian Kingdom, by requesting the State of Hawaii, City and County of Honolulu, County of Maui, County of Kauai, and County of Hawaii to name a state or county property in his name; and

     (2)  Request the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to commission a work of art, whether visual or literary, in his name.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, and two individuals.  Testimony in opposition was received from one individual.

     Your Committees find that President Grover Cleveland was a friend of Queen Lili‘uokalani, recognized the independence and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and extended full and complete diplomatic recognition to Hawaii's government.  In his first term of office, President Grover Cleveland supported treaties and conventions with the Hawaiian monarchy that governed commerce and navigation, including free trade with Hawaii, the treaty between the United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom that was ratified in 1887, and the installment of a naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1887.

     On January 17, 1893, American and European businessmen who stood to lose political and financial power by constitutional reforms proposed by Queen Lili‘uokalani, deposed her in a military coup d'etat, and negotiated with President Benjamin Harrison's Administration for the annexation of Hawaii to the United States reputedly for the personal financial gain of those American and European businessmen who were going to be impacted by the Queen's proposed reform.  President Cleveland considered the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom to be an illegal act of war and considered Minister John Stevens' declaration of Hawaii as a United States protectorate and participation by the United States military to be unauthorized.  On March 9, 1893, five days after he took office, President Cleveland disavowed the Harrison treaty and withdrew it from consideration by the United States Senate.

     President Cleveland declared that by those acts the government of a peaceful and friendly people was overthrown, the national character of the United States was tainted, and the rights of the Hawaiian people were injured, which merited American efforts to correct this "substantial wrong" and restore the Hawaiian Kingdom to its monarchs.  President Cleveland strove to reinstate Queen Lili‘uokalani to her throne, make clear his desire, and pressure the Provisional Government to do so.  President Cleveland declared that by those acts the government of a peaceful and friendly people was overthrown, the national character of the United States was tainted, and the rights of the Hawaiian people were injured, which merited American efforts to correct this "substantial wrong" and restore the Hawaiian Kingdom to its monarchs.  Throughout his term, President Cleveland opposed annexation and tried to return Queen Lili‘uokalani to power.

     Your Committees believe that it is fitting and proper that President Grover Cleveland have public property named after him in recognition of his courageous and sincere efforts to assist Queen Lili‘uokalani to ward off the pressures and forces that overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom and annexed Hawaii to the United States.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts is requested to honor President Cleveland by commissioning, purchasing, or partnering with another entity to create or obtain a work of art in his name, since the Foundation does not strictly commission works of art; and

     (2)  Amending the title accordingly.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 109, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Economic Development and Technology, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 109, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________ BRICKWOOD GALUTERIA, Chair

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair