STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3654

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.R. No. 81

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.R. No. 81 entitled:

 

"SENATE RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES TO SATISFY ITS OBLIGATIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS AND THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST UNDER THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS RECOVERY ACT,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the United States to satisfy its obligations to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust under the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and one individual.

 

     Your Committees find that in 1921, Congress enacted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act which set aside 203,000 acres of former crown and government lands for a homestead program with the specific purpose of revitalizing and rehabilitating the Native Hawaiian community.  In 1995, Congress enacted the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act to authorize the transfer of certain federal lands to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to provide for a full settlement of claims against the United States for its taking and continued use of land set aside for the implementation of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.  To this day, lands continue to be transferred in a manner inconsistent with the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act.  This resolution urges the United States to satisfy its obligations in a timely manner.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by 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 Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 81, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 81, S.D. 1.

 

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

 

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

 

________________________________

MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair