[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 109 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 109

       To provide Federal housing assistance to Native Hawaiians.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 1997

 Mr. Inouye (for himself and Mr. Akaka) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To provide Federal housing assistance to Native Hawaiians.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Native Hawaiian Housing Assistance 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Federal Government has a responsibility to promote 
        the general welfare of the Nation by employing its resources to 
        remedy the unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions and the 
        acute shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for 
        families of lower income and by developing effective 
        partnerships with governmental and private entities to 
        accomplish these objectives.
            (2) Based upon the status of the Kingdom of Hawaii as an 
        internationally recognized and independent sovereign and the 
        unique historical and political relationship between the United 
        States and Native Hawaiians, the Native Hawaiian people have a 
        continuing right to local autonomy in traditional and cultural 
        affairs and an ongoing right of self-determination and self-
        governance that has never been extinguished.
            (3) The authority of Congress under the Constitution of the 
        United States to legislate and address matters affecting the 
        rights of indigenous peoples of the United States includes the 
        authority to legislate in matters affecting Native Hawaiians.
            (4) In 1921, in recognition of the severe decline in the 
        Native Hawaiian population, Congress enacted the Hawaiian Homes 
        Commission Act, 1920, which set aside approximately 200,000 
        acres of the ceded public lands for homesteading by Native 
        Hawaiians, thereby affirming the special relationship between 
        the United States and the Native Hawaiians.
            (5) In 1959, under the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for 
        the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union'', approved 
        March 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 4), the United States reaffirmed the 
        special relationship between the United States and the Native 
        Hawaiian people--
                    (A) by transferring what the United States deemed 
                to be a trust responsibility for the administration of 
                the Hawaiian Home Lands to the State of Hawaii, but 
                continuing Federal superintendence by retaining the 
                power to enforce the trust, including the exclusive 
                right of the United States to consent to land exchanges 
                and any amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commission 
                Act, 1920, enacted by the legislature of the State of 
                Hawaii affecting the rights of beneficiaries under such 
                Act; and
                    (B) by ceding to the State of Hawaii title to the 
                public lands formerly held by the United States, 
                mandating that such lands be held ``in public trust'' 
                for ``the betterment of the conditions of Native 
                Hawaiians, as defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission 
                Act, 1920'', and continuing Federal superintendence by 
                retaining the exclusive legal responsibility to enforce 
                this public trust.
            (6) In recognition of the special relationship that exists 
        between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people, 
        Congress has extended to Native Hawaiians the same rights and 
        privileges accorded to American Indians and Alaska Natives 
        under the Native American Programs Act of 1974, the American 
        Indian Religious Freedom Act, the National Museum of the 
        American Indian Act, the Native American Graves Protection and 
        Repatriation Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the 
        Native American Languages Act, the American Indian, Alaska 
        Native and Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Development Act, 
        the Job Training and Partnership Act, and the Older Americans 
        Act of 1965.
            (7) The special relationship has been recognized and 
        reaffirmed by the United States in the area of housing--
                    (A) through the authorization of mortgage loans 
                insured by the Federal Housing Administration for the 
                purchase, construction, or refinancing of homes on 
                Hawaiian Home Lands under the National Housing Act;
                    (B) by mandating Native Hawaiian representation on 
                the National Commission on American Indian, Alaska 
                Native, and Native Hawaiian Housing;
                    (C) by the inclusion of Native Hawaiians in the 
                Native American Veterans' Home Loan Equity Act; and
                    (D) by enactment of the Hawaiian Home Lands 
                Recovery Act, which establishes a process that enables 
                the Federal Government to convey lands to the 
                Department of Hawaiian Home Lands equivalent in value 
                to lands acquired by the Federal Government.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To implement the recommendation of the National 
        Commission on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native 
        Hawaiian Housing (in this Act referred to as the 
        ``Commission'') that Congress establish a Native Hawaiian 
        Housing and Infrastructure Assistance Program to alleviate and 
        address the severe housing needs of Native Hawaiians by 
        extending to them the same Federal housing assistance available 
        to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
            (2) To address the following needs of the Native Hawaiian 
        population, as documented in the Final Report of the 
        Commission, ``Building the Future: A Blueprint for Change'' 
        (1992); the United States Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development report, ``Housing Problems and Needs of Native 
        Hawaiians (1995);'' and the State Department of Hawaiian Home 
        Lands report ``Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Beneficiary 
        Needs Study'' (1995):
                    (A) Native Hawaiians experience the highest 
                percentage of housing problems in the Nation: 49 
                percent, compared to 44 percent for American Indian and 
                Alaska Native households in tribal areas, and 27 
                percent for all United States households, particularly 
                in the area of overcrowding (27 percent versus 3 
                percent nationally) with 36 percent of Hawaiian 
                homelands households experiencing overcrowding.
                    (B) Native Hawaiians have the worst housing 
                conditions in the State of Hawaii and are seriously 
                over represented in the State's homeless population, 
                representing over 30 percent.
                    (C) Among the Native Hawaiian population, the needs 
                of the native Hawaiians eligible for Hawaiian homelands 
                are the most severe. 95 percent of the current 
                applicants, approximately 13,000 Native Hawaiians, are 
                in need of housing, with one-half of those applicant 
                households facing overcrowding and one-third paying 
                more than 30 percent of their income for shelter. Under 
                Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines, 
                70.8 percent of Department of Hawaiian Homelands 
                lessees and applicants fall below the Department of 
                Housing and Urban Development median family income, 
                with more than half having incomes below 30 percent.

SEC. 3. HOUSING ASSISTANCE.

    The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 
of 1996 (Public Law 104-330) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new title:

         ``TITLE VIII--HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS

``SEC. 801. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this title--
            ``(1) the term `Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' means 
        the department of the State of Hawaii that is responsible for 
the administration of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920;
            ``(2) the term `Hawaiian Home Lands' means those lands set 
        aside by the United States for homesteading by Native Hawaiians 
        under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, and any other 
        lands acquired pursuant to that Act; and
            ``(3) the term `Native Hawaiian' has the same meaning as in 
        section 201 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920.

``SEC. 802. BLOCK GRANTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACTIVITIES.

    ``(a) Authority.--For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall (to the 
extent amounts are made available to carry out this title) make grants 
under this section on behalf of Native Hawaiian families to carry out 
affordable housing activities in the State of Hawaii. Under such a 
grant, the Secretary shall provide the grant amounts directly to the 
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The Department of Hawaiian Home 
Lands shall, to the maximum extent practicable, employ private 
nonprofit organizations experienced in the planning and development of 
affordable housing for Native Hawaiians, in order to carry out such 
activities.
    ``(b) Applicability of Other Provisions.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), titles I 
        through IV apply to assistance provided under this section in 
        the same manner as titles I through IV apply to assistance 
        provided on behalf of an Indian tribe under title I.
            ``(2) Exception.--The Secretary may by regulation provide 
        for such modifications to the applicability of titles I through 
        IV to assistance provided under this section as the Secretary 
        determines to be necessary to meet the unique housing needs of 
        Native Hawaiians.

``SEC. 803. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this title for each of fiscal years 1997, 1998, 
1999, 2000, and 2001.''.

SEC. 4. LOAN GUARANTEES FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN HOUSING.

    Section 184 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 
(12 U.S.C. 1715z-13a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (k), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraphs:
            ``(10) The term `Hawaiian Home Lands' means those lands set 
        aside by the United States for homesteading by Native Hawaiians 
        under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, and any other 
        lands acquired pursuant to that Act.
            ``(11) The term `Native Hawaiian' has the same meaning as 
        in section 201 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920.
            ``(12) The term `Native Hawaiian housing authority' means 
        any public body (or agency or instrumentality thereof) 
        established under the laws of the State of Hawaii, that is 
        authorized to engage in or assist in the development or 
        operation of low-income housing for Native Hawaiians, and 
        includes the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office 
        of Hawaiian Affairs.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(l) Applicability to Native Hawaiian Housing.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), 
        subsections (a) through (k) apply to Native Hawaiian families, 
        Native Hawaiian housing authorities, and private nonprofit 
        organizations experienced in the planning and development of 
        affordable housing for Native Hawaiians, in the same manner as 
        those subsections apply to Indian families and to Indian 
        housing authorities, respectively.
            ``(2) Exception.--The Secretary may by regulation provide 
        for such modifications to the applicability of subsections (a) 
        through (k) to Native Hawaiian families, Native Hawaiian 
        housing authorities, and private nonprofit organizations 
        experienced in the planning and development of affordable 
        housing for Native Hawaiians as the Secretary determines to be 
        necessary to meet the unique housing needs of Native Hawaiians.
            ``(3) Limitation.--Any assistance provided under this 
        subsection, including any assistance provided to Native 
        Hawaiians not residing on the Hawaiian Home Lands, shall be 
        limited to the State of Hawaii.
            ``(4) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 
        carry out this subsection.''.
                                 <all>