Akaka Bill Alive?

SUBHEAD: The Akaka Bill may be made into law through a Defense Appropriations bill.

 By Elaine Dunbar on 15 December 2009 in Island Breath - 
 (http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2009/12/kill-healthcare-bill.html)
  
  
Image above: Protest in Hawaii on Akaka Bill From http://www.stoptheakakabill.com/akaka-bill/stop-the-akaka-bill-3

If anyone had any doubts about the Akaka Bill being attached to the Defense Appropriations Bill, please see below. It was absolutely true, despite what others are saying, Capital Hill has confirmed that the Akaka Bill was going to be and still could be attached to the Department of Defense funding. National Review Online sounded the alarm bells December 14th and sources on Capitol Hill confirmed to Big Government that a version of the Native Hawaiian Bill may end up in the Defense Appropriations bill. According to NROnline: The Hill rumor is that Democrats plan to attach Akaka to the Department of Defense funding bill before this session ends — basically, sneaking it in at a busy, contentious time of year to avoid full debate.

It's Not Just the Obamas Going to Hawaii this December 

 By Kathryn Jean Lopez on 14 December 2009 in The National Review - (http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWZmOWFhM2Y1MGJlZDM0OWVkN2ZlNjBiMDljNTY0YjE=)

For years (since 1999), Daniel Akaka has been trying to make the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act law. On Friday afternoon, the minority on the House Natural Resources Committee got word that there will be a mark-up on it on Wednesday. Apparently there's an agreement on the bill, but Republicans on the committee haven't seen it.

The Hill rumor is that Democrats plan to attach Akaka to the Department of Defense funding bill before this session ends — basically, sneaking it in at a busy, contentious time of year to avoid full debate. Here's how we editorialized about the Akaka bill in 2006:

The Akaka bill is a terrible piece of legislation. Every aspect of it—from its premises to its goals to its methods—undermines the American belief that we are one people from many. It would create a separate government for “native” Hawaiians, who would in all likelihood be determined almost exclusively by bloodlines. The new government would be able to conduct sovereign-to-sovereign relations with the United States, much as Indian tribes do today. Although no one knows what the final form of the government would be, presumably some 400,000 “natives” would be invited to weigh in—even a resident of New Hampshire who has never stepped foot in Hawaii and has but a trace of Hawaiian blood would get a say in forming the new government. The most pernicious outcome is perhaps the only one that is assured: The governing entity would lead to a permanent hereditary caste in Hawaii, where natives—defined however the interim government chooses to define them—enjoy at least some rights that non-natives do not. Tax-exempt status and immunity from Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations are two possibilities.

Akaka would be an unconstitutional, race-based mistake. It shouldn't pass. And it really shouldn't be snuck in as Christmas gift to Daniel Akaka.

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