[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 59 (Monday, May 15, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3945-S3946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-515. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Hawaii relative to the observance of the 
     centennial of the Organic Act; to the Committee on Energy and 
     Natural Resources.

                   House Concurrent Resolution No. 27

       Whereas, on January 17, 1898, the Kingdom of Hawaii was 
     overthrown; and
       Whereas, on July 7, 1898, the Republic of Hawaii was 
     annexed by the United States by a Joint Resolution of 
     Annexation; and
       Whereas, after annexation, United States President William 
     McKinley appointed, pursuant to the Joint Resolution, five 
     commissioners to recommend to Congress ``such legislation 
     concerning the Hawaiian Islands as they shall deem necessary 
     or proper''; and
       Whereas, the five commissioners were United States Senators 
     Shelly M. Cullom, chairman, and John T. Morgan; United States 
     Representative Robert R. Hitt; and Hawaii residents Sanford 
     B. Dole, and Walter F. Frear; and
       Whereas, the commissioners held meetings and hearings in 
     Honolulu and the neighbor islands in the fall of 1898; and
       Whereas, on December 6, 1898, President William McKinley of 
     the United States transmitted the report of the Hawaiian 
     Commission, appointed pursuant to the ``joint resolution to 
     provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United 
     States,'' approved July 7, 1898; together with a copy of the 
     civil and penal laws of Hawaii; and
       Whereas, on April 30, 1900 the Congress of the United 
     States passed the Organic Act; and
       Whereas, the Organic Act provided for a government for the 
     Territory of Hawaii; and
       Whereas, the Hawaiian Islands consisted of the following 
     islands: Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, 
     Niihau, Kahoolawe, Molokini, Lehua, Kaula, Nihoa, Necker, 
     Laysan, Gardiner, Lisiansky, Ocean, French Frigates Shoal, 
     Palmyra, Brooks Shoal, Pearl and Hermers Reef, Gambia 
     Shoal and Dowsett and Maro Reef; and
       Whereas, under the laws of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the Crown 
     lands were declared to be inalienable; and
       Whereas, under the Organic Act, the Crown lands were 
     declared to be public domain and ``subject to alienation and 
     other uses as provided by law''; and
       Whereas, On July 9, 1921 the Congress of the United States 
     enacted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act; and
       Whereas, On March 18, 1959 the Congress of the United 
     States enacted An Act to Provide for the Admission of the 
     State of Hawaii into the Union; and
       Whereas, in December 1999, representatives of the 
     Department of Interior held reconciliation discussions within 
     the Native Hawaiian communities regarding the unlawful 
     overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii; now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Twentieth 
     Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, 
     the Senate concurring, That the centennial anniversary of the 
     passage of the Organic Act is hereby commemorated; and be it 
     further
       Resolved, That members of the House of Representatives and 
     the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature, ``Express Aloha'' to 
     the Native Hawaiian community on this centennial event that 
     saddens many Native Hawaiians; and be it further
       Resolved, That all members of the House of Representatives 
     and the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature of the State of 
     Hawaii, are encouraged to gather with the Native Hawaiian 
     community at Iolani Palace on April 30, 2000, commemorating 
     the centennial of the Organic Act; and be it further
       Resolved, That this Concurrent Resolution serve as a 
     reminder to the United States Congress of its involvement in 
     the creation of the Organic Act; and be it further
       Resolved, That this Concurrent Resolution serve as an 
     invitation to President William Jefferson Clinton of the 
     United States of America and the Congress of the United 
     States to gather with the Native Hawaiian community at Iolani 
     Palace on April 30, 2000, commemorating the Centennial of the 
     Organic Act or at their earliest convenience; and be it 
     further
       Resolved, That certified copies of this Concurrent 
     Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United 
     States, the United States Secretary of State, the Attorney 
     General of the United States, the United States Secretary of 
     the Interior, the President of

[[Page S3946]]

     the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives of the United States, Hawaii's Congressional 
     delegation, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme 
     Court, the governor of each state, the Governor and 
     Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii, the Chief Justice 
     of the Hawaii Supreme Court, and each member of the House of 
     Representatives of the State of Hawaii.
                                  ____

       POM-516. A resolution adopted by the House of the General 
     Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania relative to the 
     financial structure of the Coal Act; to the Committee on 
     Finance.

                        House Resolution No. 374

       Whereas, Pennsylvania is a coal-producing and coal-
     consuming state that has benefited tremendously from the 
     hard, dangerous work of retired coal miners; and
       Whereas, The United States Government entered into a 
     contract with coal miners in 1946 that created the United 
     Mine Workers of America Health and Retirement Funds; and
       Whereas, This contract was signed in the White House in a 
     ceremony with President Harry Truman; and
       Whereas, A Federal commission established by Secretary of 
     Labor Elizabeth Dole concluded in 1990:
       ``Retired coal miners have legitimate expectations of 
     health care benefits for life; that was the promise they 
     received during their working lives and that is how they 
     planned their retirement years. That commitment should be 
     honored''; and
       Whereas, This promise became law in 1992 when the Congress 
     of the United States passed and President George Bush signed 
     the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act (the Coal Act); 
     and
       Whereas, The Coal Act reiterated the promise of lifetime 
     health benefits for retired coal miners and their dependents; 
     and
       Whereas, Congress intended the Coal Act to:
       ``(1) remedy problems with the provision and funding of 
     health care benefits with respect to the beneficiaries of 
     multiemployer benefit plans that provide health care benefits 
     to retirees in the coal industry;
       (2) allow for sufficient operating assets for such plans; 
     and
       (3) provide for the continuation of a privately financed 
     self-sufficient program for the delivery of health care 
     benefits to the beneficiaries of such plans''; and
       Whereas, Certain court decisions have eroded the financial 
     structure Congress put in place under the Coal Act; and
       Whereas, These court decisions have placed the continued 
     provision of health benefits to retired coal miners in 
     jeopardy; and
       Whereas, the President has included in his proposed budget 
     $346 million in general Federal funds over ten years to 
     protect the long-term integrity of the Combined Benefit Fund 
     for Retired Miners and their Dependents; therefore be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the 
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the President and the 
     Congress of the United States to work together to enact 
     legislation to reform the financial structure of the Coal Act 
     by providing for an annual transfer of general Federal funds 
     to the combined benefit fund addressing the shortfall created 
     by the above-mentioned court cases; and be it further
       Resolved, That, in accordance with the contract of 1946, 
     the health care benefits promised to retired coal miners be 
     continued, preserved and ensured; and be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the 
     President of the United States and to each member of Congress 
     from Pennsylvania.

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