STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1696

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.C.R. No. 104

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 104 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE SUPPORT OF THE STATE OF HAWAII FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF NORTH DAKOTA TO PRESERVE THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE AND ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to express the Legislature's support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its opposition to any actions, including the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, that threaten the Tribe, its access to clean water, the preservation of its sacred and important lands, and the continued existence of its culture, people, and nation.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Progressive Democrats of Hawaii and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that the Dakota Access Pipeline is a nearly 1,200-mile long pipeline designed to transport 470,000 barrels of crude oil daily across four states, from North Dakota to Illinois, where it links to another pipeline that transports crude oil to terminals and refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.  A section of the Pipeline is designed to cross lands claimed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which contain sacred sites and Lake Oahe, the primary source of clean drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation land.  The construction, maintenance, and operation of the Pipeline are projected to have major disruptive effects on the supply of clean water and the preservation and use of lands and sites that are historically and culturally important to indigenous peoples located on or originating from the areas surrounding the Pipeline's route.  This measure recognizes the critical importance of access to clean water, for practical and spiritual reasons, which is a value that is shared between the indigenous peoples of the American West and Native Hawaiians.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 104, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 104, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair