STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1552

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 24

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 24 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, STATE BUILDING CODE COUNCIL, BUILDING DEPARTMENTS OF EACH COUNTY, MAYORS OF EACH COUNTY, AND CHAIRS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEES ON HOUSING TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR ADOPTING UPDATED BUILDING CODES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Office of the Governor, State Building Code Council, building departments of each county, mayors of each county, and Chairs of the Senate and House of Representatives standing committees on housing to develop a comprehensive strategy for adopting updated building codes.

Prior to the hearing on this measure, your Committees posted and made available for public review a proposed S.D. 1, which deletes the contents of the measure and inserts language to:

(1) Strongly urge the United States Department of Defense to maintain all references to the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team on its websites for the public; and

(2) Strongly urge the United States Department of Defense to maintain all references to intersectional minorities in its media as the recording of history involving those individuals who happen to be characterized as minorities is not an act of elevating minorities above non-minorities.

Your Committees received testimony in support of the proposed S.D. 1 from Indivisible Hawaii, Daniel K. Inouye Institute, Hawaii Military Affairs Council, Nisei Veterans Legacy, Hawaii Coalition for Civil Rights, 100^th Infantry Battalion Veterans, and four individuals.

Your Committees find that the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team and 100^th Infantry Battalion, comprising thousands of Japanese American soldiers from Hawaii and the continental United States, proudly served in the United States military during the second world war. Meanwhile, one hundred twenty thousand Americans of Japanese ancestry, including two thousand Americans of Japanese descent from Hawaii, were incarcerated in concentration camps throughout the United States by the United States government based solely on their ancestry. In response to a federal Executive Order, the United States Army recently removed all references to the 100^th Infantry Battalion and 442^nd Regimental Combat Team from its website, under the auspices of the executive mandate to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) references and initiatives. This measure will address this harmful act by strongly urging the United States Department of Defense to maintain all references to the mainly Japanese American and most decorated unit of its size and service in American military history, in addition to maintaining all historical references to intersectional minorities.

Your Committees have amended this measure by adopting the proposed S.D. 1 and further amending the measure by:

(1) Including references to the 100^th Infantry Battalion in addition to the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team;

(2) Amending its title accordingly;

(3) 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 Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 24, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 24, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair