[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 63 (Friday, May 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIVE HAWAIIAN HOUSING

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                         HON. NEIL ABERCROMBIE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2000

  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I express my support for the inclusion 
of the Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act, in the American 
Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act, H.R. 1776. I appreciate the 
leadership of Representative Rick Lazio on this bill. The Native 
Hawaiian housing provisions that were a part of the manager's amendment 
are similar to legislation that I introduced in the 105th Congress. I 
am hopeful that we can continue to work together to assure these 
important initiatives are signed by President Clinton this year.
  The purpose of the Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act is to allow 
access to federal housing assistance programs to Native Hawaiians who 
are eligible to reside on Hawaiian Home Lands but do not qualify for 
private mortgage loans.
  Although Federal housing assistance programs in Hawaii have been 
administered on a racially neutral basis, Native Hawaiians continue to 
have the greatest unmet need for housing and the highest rates of 
overcrowding in the United States. Forty-nine percent of Native 
Hawaiians experience housing problems as compared to 44 percent for 
American Indian and Alaska Native households and 27 percent for all 
other households in the United States.
  These troubling statistics are not recent news. In 1920, Congress 
enacted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to address Congressional 
findings that Native Hawaiians were a landless and distressed 
population. Under the Act, approximately 200,000 acres of public land 
that had been ceded to the United States in what was then the Territory 
of Hawaii would be set aside for the native people of Hawaii.
  When Hawaii was admitted into the Union of States in 1959, title to 
the 200,000 acres of land was transferred to the State of Hawaii with 
the requirement that the lands be held in public trust for the 
betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiians. The Hawaii Admissions 
Act also required that the Hawaii State Constitution provide for the 
assumption of a trust responsibility for the lands. The lands are now 
administered by a State agency, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
  The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act authorized general leases of land 
set aside under the Act. Congress anticipated that revenues derived 
from general leases would be sufficient to develop the necessary 
infrastructure and housing on the home lands. However, general lease 
revenue has not proven sufficient to address infrastructure and housing 
needs. There are approximately 60,000 Native Hawaiians who are eligible 
to lease and reside on the home lands. However, due to the lack of 
resources to develop infrastructure (roads, access to water and sewer 
and electricity), hundreds of Native Hawaiians have been put on a 
waiting list and died before receiving an assignment of home lands.
  In 1995, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands published a 
Beneficiary Needs Study as a result of research conducted by an 
independent research group. This study found that among the Native 
Hawaiian population, the needs of those eligible to reside on the 
Hawaiian home lands are the most severe--with 95 percent of home lands 
applicants (16,000) in need of housing. Additionally, one-half of those 
applicant households face overcrowding and one-third pay more than 30 
percent of their income for shelter.
  The Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act will help move Hawaiians 
into their own homes. People have spent decades on the Hawaiian waiting 
list. One of the obstacles that has kept people from getting homesteads 
has been their inability to qualify for home lands. Once this bill 
becomes law, they'll have access to the loans they need to attain the 
dream of homeownership.

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