[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 121 (Monday, July 12, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4831-S4832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 297--RECOGNIZING AND COMMEMORATING NATIVE HAWAIIAN 
  DELEGATE JONAH KUHIO KALANIANA`OLE'S LIFELONG ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF 
HAWAI`I AND THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS 
PARAMOUNT CONGRESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT--THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 
                                  1920

  Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Ms. Hirono) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 297

       Whereas Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana`ole was born on March 26, 
     1871, in Koloa, Kaua`i in the Kingdom of Hawai`i, the 
     youngest of 3

[[Page S4832]]

     sons to High Chief David Kahalepouli Pi`ikoi and Princess 
     Victoria Kinoiki Kekaulike;
       Whereas, in 1883, Kuhio was named a Prince by royal 
     proclamation of his uncle, King Kalakaua;
       Whereas Prince Kuhio attended St. Alban's College and O`ahu 
     College in Honolulu, St. Matthew's Military School in San 
     Mateo, California--where he and his brothers were the first 
     to introduce the sport of surfing in the United States--and 
     the Royal Agricultural College in Gloucestershire, England;
       Whereas Prince Kuhio served in the Kingdom of Hawai`i's 
     Ministry of Interior and Customs, and later became a close 
     confidant and advisor to the Kingdom of Hawai`i's last 
     reigning monarch, Queen Lili`uokalani;
       Whereas, on January 17, 1893, a group of armed sugar 
     planters, descendants of missionaries, and financiers, from 
     the United States and Europe deposed the Hawaiian monarchy, 
     and imprisoned Queen Lili`uokalani;
       Whereas a United States Minister thereafter extended 
     diplomatic recognition to the Provisional Government, without 
     the consent of the Native Hawaiian people or the lawful 
     Government of Hawai`i, and in violation of international law 
     and the treaties between the 2 nations;
       Whereas, on July 4, 1894, the Provisional Government 
     reorganized as the Republic of Hawai`i and adopted a 
     constitution prohibiting many Native Hawaiians and citizens 
     of Asian descent from voting, which frustrated Prince Kuhio;
       Whereas, after failing to annex Hawai`i to the United 
     States by treaty, the United States took the unprecedented 
     step of annexing Hawai`i by Joint Resolution on July 7, 1898;
       Whereas, on April 30, 1900, President McKinley signed the 
     Act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat. 141, chapter 339) (commonly 
     known as the ``Hawaii Organic Act''), formally establishing 
     Hawai`i as a territory of the United States, even though the 
     Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their 
     claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over 
     their national lands to the United States, either through 
     their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum;
       Whereas, in 1902, Prince Kuhio won his first bid for 
     Congress with considerable Native Hawaiian support, and 
     continued to serve as Hawai`i's delegate from 1903 to 1921;
       Whereas, upon arriving in Washington, D.C., Prince Kuhio 
     encountered racial prejudice and a general lack of knowledge 
     about Hawai`i and the Hawaiian people on the continent, 
     including in Congress and the executive branch;
       Whereas the Governor of the Territory of Hawai`i proclaimed 
     that Prince Kuhio ``engaged in the rough and tumble of public 
     discussion and politics with a vigor, sincerity, and general 
     spirit of good sportsmanship that established the merits of 
     his leadership among all elements . . . [and] [h]e was loyal, 
     courageous, sincere, and his personal integrity was never 
     attacked even by inference'';
       Whereas Prince Kuhio worked tirelessly to protect and 
     perpetuate the Native Hawaiian people and their culture by 
     re-establishing the Royal Order of Kamehameha I in 1903, 
     founding the `Ahahui Pu`uhonua O Na Hawai`i (Hawaiian 
     Protective Organization) in 1914 alongside other Native 
     Hawaiian political leaders, and helping form the Hawaiian 
     Civic Clubs in 1918;
       Whereas Prince Kuhio, as a Member of Congress, secured a 
     $27,000,000 appropriation to improve and expand Pearl Harbor, 
     facilitated construction of the Makapu`u Point Lighthouse, 
     established a Hawai`i National Park covering land on Kilauea, 
     Mauna Loa, and Haleakala, shaped the foundation for Hawai`i's 
     modern government structure by instituting the county system 
     still in place today, sponsored the first bill for Hawai`i's 
     statehood in 1919, and lent his support to a territorial 
     women's suffrage bill;
       Whereas Prince Kuhio established a homesteading program for 
     Native Hawaiians through his historic legislative 
     accomplishment, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 
     Stat. 108, chapter 42);
       Whereas Prince Kuhio was appointed as the first member of 
     the Hawaiian Homes Commission, which continues to manage 
     certain public lands, known as Hawaiian home lands, for 
     homesteading purposes, and served the Native Hawaiian people 
     in that role until the time of his death; and
       Whereas the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 
     108, chapter 42) amended the Act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat. 
     141, chapter 339) (commonly known as the ``Hawaii Organic 
     Act'') to set aside roughly 200,000 acres across the Hawaiian 
     Islands for exclusive homesteading by eligible Native 
     Hawaiians and continues to guide the Federal Government's 
     fulfillment of its trust responsibilities to Native Hawaiians 
     as a distinct and unique indigenous people with a historical 
     continuity to the original inhabitants of the Hawaiian 
     archipelago: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes and commemorates Prince Jonah Kuhio 
     Kalaniana`ole, a Native Hawaiian Delegate from Hawai`i and 
     lifelong advocate for Hawai`i and the Native Hawaiian people, 
     including his work to pass the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 
     1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42);
       (2) commits itself to affirming and upholding the special 
     political and trust relationship that Congress established 
     between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people 
     through more than 150 separate statutes; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to celebrate 
     Prince Kuhio's legacy and the 100th anniversary of the 
     Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 
     42).

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