STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1305

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 150

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and International Affairs and the Arts, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 150 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS TO CONVENE A STUDY GROUP TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE ON AN APPROPRIATE MEANS TO HONOR ROBERT WILLIAM KALANIHIAPO WILCOX, HAWAII'S FIRST ELECTED DELEGATE TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to convene a study group to make recommendations to the Legislature on an appropriate means to honor Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox, Hawaii's first elected delegate to the United States Congress.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Native Hawaiian Education Council, and thirteen individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies.

     Your Committees find that Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox was born on February 15, 1855, on the island of Maui to Captain William Slocum Wilcox, a native of England by way of Newport, Rhode Island, and Kalua Makoleokalani of Maui, whose mother descended directly from Pi‘ilani, ancient ruler of Maui Nui, and whose father descended directly from Umi, ancient ruler of Hawai‘i.

     Your Committees find that Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox was an instrumental and critically important figure in the struggles of Hawai‘i from monarchy to statehood.  After the United States' annexation of Hawai‘i through the Newland's Resolution in 1898 and to ensure that Native Hawaiian interests were adequately represented in the Territory of Hawai‘i government, Mr. Wilcox zealously and successfully lobbied the United States Congress to grant universal voting rights for men in the legislation that would later become the 1900 Hawaiian Organic Act.  After the passage of the Hawaiian Organic Act by Congress in 1900, Mr. Wilcox organized Native Hawaiians who had been anti-annexation into the Hawaiian Independent Party, which was later called the Home Rule Party of Hawai‘i, and with that Mr. Wilcox launched his candidacy for a seat in the Fifty-seventh United States Congress, which he later won.

     From November 6, 1900, to March 3, 1903, Mr. Wilcox served in the Fifty-seventh Congress as Hawai‘i's first Congressman and distinguished himself as a representative who fought for the rights of citizens.  Realizing that as a United States territory, Hawai‘i could send only non-voting representatives to Congress and that Hawai‘i's territorial governors would be appointed by the United States President and not elected by territorial residents, Mr. Wilcox and other prominent Native Hawaiians supported Hawai‘i becoming a state of the Union to ensure greater local control of Hawaii's government by the people.

     Your Committees further find that Mr. Wilcox should be remembered for his abiding support and advocacy for the rights of citizens to vote and fully participate in their government regardless of whether it was organized as a monarchy, a provisional government, a republic, or a territory of the United States.  Mr. Wilcox is a cherished figure in the Hawaiian community for his contributions to Hawaii's history and heritage.  He dedicated his life, and at times even risked it, to preserve Native Hawaiian rights and self-determination.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Adding to the study group the Director of Lāhui Hawai‘i Research Center of the University of Hawai‘i and the Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge of the University of Hawaii; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and International Affairs and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 150, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 150, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and International Affairs and the Arts,

________________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

________________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair