[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8038-8039]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         NATIVE HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION ACT OF 2005

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise once again to discuss legislation I 
have introduced to extend the federal policy of self-governance and 
self-determination to Hawaii's indigenous peoples. S. 147 would provide 
parity in the federal policies towards indigenous peoples in the 50 
states, to include American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native 
Hawaiians.
  To understand the importance of this legislation, one must understand 
Hawaii's history. Despite the fact that the Congress passed P.L. 103-
150, the Apology Resolution, which recites Hawaii's history, many of my 
colleagues are unaware of our history. Let me provide some context of 
what we have experienced so that you might better understand the 
importance of this bill to my state.
  Captain James Cook landed in Hawaii in 1778. Prior to Western 
contact, Native Hawaiians lived in an advanced society that was steeped 
in science. Native Hawaiians honored their land and environment, and 
therefore developed methods of irrigation, agriculture, aquaculture, 
navigation, medicine, fishing and other forms of subsistence whereby 
the land and sea were efficiently used without waste or damage. Respect 
for the environment and for others formed the basis of their culture 
and tradition.
  The immediate and brutal decline of the Native Hawaiian population 
was the most obvious result of contact with the West. Between Cook's 
arrival and 1820, disease, famine, and war killed more than half of the 
Native Hawaiian population. This devastating population loss was 
accompanied by cultural, economic, and psychological destruction.
  By the middle of the 19th century, the islands' small non-native 
population had come to wield an influence far in excess of its size. 
Westerners sought to limit the absolute power of the Hawaiian king over 
their legal rights and to implement property law so that they could 
accumulate and control land.
  The mutual interests of Americans living in Hawaii and the United 
States became increasingly clear as the 19th century progressed. 
American merchants and planters in Hawaii wanted access to mainland 
markets and protection from European and Asian domination. The United 
States developed a military and economic interest in placing Hawaii 
within its sphere of influence. In 1826, the United States and Hawaii 
entered into the first of the four treaties the two nations signed 
during the 19th century.
  The Kingdom of Hawaii, which began in 1810 under the leadership of 
King Kamehameha the first, continued until 1893 when it was overthrown 
with the help of the United States. The overthrow of the Kingdom is 
easily the most poignant part of Hawaii's history. Opponents of the 
bill have characterized the overthrow as the fault of Hawaii's last 
reigning monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani. Nothing could be further from 
the truth.
  America's already ascendant political influence in Hawaii was 
heightened by the prolonged sugar boom. Sugar planters were eager to 
eliminate the United States' tariff on their exports to California and 
Oregon. The 1875 Convention on Commercial Reciprocity, eliminated the 
American tariff on sugar from Hawaii and virtually all tariffs that 
Hawaii had placed on American products. It also prohibited Hawaii from 
giving political, economic, or territorial preferences to any other 
foreign power. It also provided the United States with the right to 
establish a military base at Pearl Harbor.
  The business community, backed by the non-native military group, the 
Honolulu Rifles, forced the prime minister's resignation and the 
enactment of a new constitution. The new constitution--often referred 
to as the Bayonet Constitution--reduced the King to a figure of minor 
importance. It extended the right to vote to Western males whether or 
not they were citizens of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It disenfranchised 
almost all native voters by giving only residents with a specified 
income level or amount of property, the right to vote for members of 
the House of Nobles. The representatives of propertied Westerners took 
control of the legislature. The Bayonet constitution has been 
characterized as bringing democracy to Hawaii by opponents to S. 147. 
The constitution was not about democracy--it was about a shift in power 
to business owners from natives.
  On January 14, 1893, the Queen was prepared to promulgate a new 
constitution, restoring the sovereign's control over the House of 
Nobles and limiting

[[Page 8039]]

the franchise to Hawaiian subjects. She was, however, forced to 
withdraw her proposed constitution. Despite the Queen's apparent 
acquiescence, a Committee of Public Safety was formed to overthrow the 
Kingdom.
  On January 16, 1893, at the order of U.S. Minister John Stevens, 
American Marines marched through Honolulu, to a building known as Arion 
Hall, located near both the government building and the Hawaiian 
palace. The next day, local revolutionaries seized the government 
building and demanded that Queen Lili'uokalani abdicate. Stevens 
immediately recognized the rebels' provisional government and placed it 
under the United States' protection.
  I was deeply saddened by allegations made by opponents of this 
legislation that the overthrow was done to maintain democratic 
principles over a despotic monarch. As you can tell by the history I 
just shared, our Queen was trying to restore the Kingdom to its native 
peoples after Western influence had so greatly diminished the rights of 
the native peoples in Hawaii. Colleagues, I want to ensure that you 
understand our true history and the bravery and courage of our Queen, 
who abdicated her throne after seeing U.S. Marines marching through the 
streets of Honolulu. She did so to save her people.
  Mr. President, I also want to discuss the diversity of Hawaii's 
people. As I've said before, we celebrate our diversity as the sharing 
of our cultures, traditions, and languages; it is what makes us so 
special in Hawaii. Our diversity unifies us.
  Colleagues, I want you to know that during the period of the Kingdom, 
many people traveled through and to Hawaii. In 1832, records indicate 
that there were 400 foreigners in Hawaii. Starting in 1852, sugar 
plantations began to recruit foreign workers to Hawaii. They included 
Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, and Filipino workers. While many of 
these workers were temporary and returned to their homelands, a number 
of them stayed in Hawaii and have embraced the culture and traditions 
of Hawaii's indigenous peoples.
  The opponents of this legislation first tried to represent this issue 
as a native vs. non-native issue. They failed to understand how we 
celebrate diversity in my home State and how so many embrace all things 
Hawaiian whether or not they can trace their lineage back to the 
aboriginal, indigenous peoples of Hawaii. The opponents also fail to 
understand the tremendous respect the people of Hawaii have for Native 
Hawaiian culture and the fact that the average person is not threatened 
by the idea of Native Hawaiians having recognition. The people of 
Hawaii understand that the preservation of rights for Native Hawaiians 
does not happen to their detriment.
  The opponents of this legislation have tried to spread misinformation 
about the bill to lead non-Hawaiians to believe that their rights will 
be taken away if the bill is passed. This is not true. In the days to 
come I will elaborate more. Today, however, I wanted to share Hawaii's 
history and to explain the celebration of diversity and of 
multiculturalism in my home state. I am proud of my constituents--proud 
of their many cultures and traditions--and the fact that they are 
secure enough in their heritage to be able to support parity in federal 
policies for Native Hawaiians.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in helping to do what is right, what 
is just for Native Hawaiians.
  I look forward to the support that I will receive from my colleagues.
  Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity to tell you about my 
history.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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