THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            108
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING GOVERNOR CAYETANO TO DESIGNATE AN OFFICIAL STATE
    CONTACT TO WORK WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON ISSUES
    RELATED TO CEDED LANDS AND THE POLITICAL STATUS OF
    HAWAIIANS.



 1        WHEREAS, during the 1980s and early 1990s, there were many
 2   impediments, at the federal level, to a consideration and
 3   resolution of issues related to ceded lands and to Hawaiian
 4   political status; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, in 1983, the federal Native Hawaiian Study
 7   Commission Majority Report concluded that the federal
 8   government was not liable for the loss of sovereignty or lands
 9   arising from the overthrow, and in 1989, the Bush
10   administration disavowed the position of the Carter
11   administration that there was a trust relationship between the
12   Hawaiian people and the federal government; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, in early 1993, the Department of the Interior's
15   Solicitor's Office issued a legal opinion that the federal
16   government "had no trust responsibilities to the native
17   Hawaiians either before Statehood or thereafter; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, however, the Clinton administration has taken a
20   more thoughtful view of federal responsibilities relating to
21   Hawaiians, rescinding the Department of the Interior's legal
22   opinion and enacting Public Law 103-150, commonly referred to
23   as the "Apology Resolution"; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, other federal efforts sympathetic to the Hawaiian
26   people have included the return of Kaho'olawe in 1994 and the
27   creation by the Office of Management and Budget of a distinct
28   category of Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders for federal
29   purposes; and
30   
31        WHEREAS, Hawai`i's congressional delegation has been
32   strongly supportive of negotiating at the federal level for
33   resolution on Hawaiian issues; and
34   

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            108
                                                        
                                                        


 1        WHEREAS, Senator Akaka supports the concept of
 2   establishing a designated individual within the Department of
 3   the Interior to address the political status of Hawaiians and
 4   to provide coordination with Congress on potential remedies;
 5   now, therefore,
 6   
 7        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 8   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
 9   Representatives concurring, that the Governor is requested to
10   designate a person in his administration to be the official
11   state contact with the Department of the Interior to address
12   issues related to ceded lands and the political status of
13   Hawaiians, and to inform Senator Akaka of the identity of the
14   designee; and
15   
16        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
17   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor.
18 
19 
20 
21                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________