[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 125 (Friday, July 16, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      OCCASION OF CENTENNIAL OF THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 16, 2021

  Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, last Friday, my colleague, Congressman 
Kaiali`i Kahele (Hawaii--Second), and I gathered here on Capitol Hill 
with leaders of our Native Hawaiian community and partners in the 
advancement of Native Hawaiians everywhere to recognize the centennial 
of the enactment, on July 9, 1921, of a truly revolutionary law, the 
Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, to honor the times and memory of its 
author, Hawaii Delegate to Congress Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalani`anaole, 
and to reflect on and commit to the path still ahead.
  That afternoon, we came together on the East grounds of the Capitol, 
directly outside the House chamber where Kuhio served for almost two 
decades, to share our mana'o (thoughts) on this momentous day. I would 
like to share here my own remarks on behalf of all throughout our 
Hawaii who I am privileged to represent:

       To my colleague and friend, Congressman Kahele, our 
     incredible guests that are here with us today, and our 
     friends and `ohana watching everywhere, Aloha.
       As I stand with you today, I have so many conflicting 
     thoughts and emotions.
       We are here on hallowed grounds that for centuries now have 
     stood for the very best of humanity, and yet we are also on 
     ground that at a bare minimum tolerated the overthrow of the 
     Hawaiian Kingdom.
       We are on grounds that have advanced equality, opportunity, 
     compassion and justice, and yet have sanctioned so much trial 
     and tragedy for our indigenous peoples.
       We are on grounds where just one year ago, we gathered to 
     bid aloha to one of the great icons of the civil rights 
     movement, my colleague John Lewis, and yet it is this very 
     ground from which was launched an attack on our Capitol and 
     democracy by our own fellow citizens.
       This land is riddled with contradictions. As it was when 
     Prince Kuhio came to Congress as the first Native Hawaiian to 
     serve almost 120 years ago.
       Kuhio spoke then of the urgency and despair of a people 
     facing extinction in their own land. That was no idle 
     concern. It had in fact happened to other indigenous peoples 
     throughout our country and world; their peoples and cultures 
     are simply no more.
       There were then just perhaps 40,000 Native Hawaiians. The 
     life expectancy of Native Hawaiians was but thirty years. 
     They were increasingly not living on the land as had dozens 
     of generations before them, but in the tenements of Honolulu 
     in dire circumstances.
       And yet, Kuhio entrusted his people to this still-new 
     country, a country of promise but that had not shown it was 
     deserving of that trust. And he devoted his next two decades 
     toward advancing his people and to prove that his trust had 
     not been misplaced.
       As Congressman Kahele has said, the Hawaiian Homes 
     Commission Act, signed one hundred years ago today, was his 
     singular accomplishment. But what was Prince Kuhio's legacy? 
     What did it all add up to?
       History is fickle. We're all judged by our successes and 
     failures, our achievements and our shortcomings (of course 
     always in hindsight and without the context of the times).
       But I would make these three observations about Kuhio, 
     looking back from the distance of history and as someone who 
     is not Native Hawaiian.
       First, he was exactly the right person for his time and 
     place. Not just for Native Hawaiians, but for all of us whose 
     ancestors and lifeblood lay then and now in Hawaii.
       Second, the Kanaka Maoli did not, unlike many of their 
     brothers and sisters, fade from this Earth. Native Hawaiians 
     now number in the hundreds of thousands throughout our 
     country and world, proudly reclaiming and perpetuating their 
     history and culture and contributing alongside all others who 
     seek a better path forward.
       Third, Kuhio, as the first Native Hawaiian leader to step 
     forward onto the national stage, exemplified what proud, 
     principled and capable Hawaiian leadership is, setting the 
     standard for so many of us who followed down the road he 
     paved.
       But history is never complete, and the Hawaiian Homes 
     Commission Act is a perfect example. As one Kanaka Maoli 
     leader noted recently, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was 
     beautifully conceived but did not deliver in its 
     implementation. In that the Act is its own story, and now we 
     must turn the page toward better chapters.
       Today, I follow and support Congressman Kahele in finding 
     and forging that next chapter. For yesterday's achievements 
     are just tomorrow's foundations, and yesterday's failures are 
     just tomorrow's opportunities.
       I am so deeply humbled with the responsibility--for all of 
     us wherever we are for whom Hawaii is and always will be our 
     true home--to partner with you in these next chapters of 
     renewed opportunity and hope. Thank you. Mahalo.

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