Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

WASHINGTON (Feb. 25) -- Call it Queen Liliuokalani's revenge. Long-stalled legislation to give Native Hawaiians the right to form a sovereign government passed the House this week and has the support of Hawaii native President Obama.

The bill would give Native Hawaiians the right to control their own lands, run their own health and education programs, and have a sovereign government similar to what Native American tribes have.

"This legislation violates, in my view, the United States Constitution, because it establishes a separate, race-based government of Native Hawaiians," said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., agreed and said he would do everything he can to block the bill in the Senate, meaning sponsors will need 60 votes to overcome a potential filibuster.

"We should stand together in opposition to racially divisive and discriminatory laws like this," DeMint said. "The Native Hawaiian bill is unconstitutional and violates the national unity of E Pluribus Unum."

House passes bill to grant Native Hawaiians special rights as reparations for 1893 coup

“Something is terribly wrong with this bill if the governor of Hawaii, an advocate for Native Hawaiian recognition, feels compelled to say she can’t support the rewritten text,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee. “The rewritten bill strikes at the heart of the state of Hawaii’s authority to enforce health and environmental regulations, taxes and criminal law enforcement equally among its citizens.”

“The state just wants to maintain the ability to bring a lawsuit against the Native Hawaiian government, and the Department of Justice has told them that there is no precedent for that kind of relationship between sovereign governments,” said Dave Helfert, a spokesman for Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii who sponsored the bill. “They will have to work things out in government negotiations. Besides, these changes in jurisdiction only deal with government-to-government stuff, Native Hawaiians that don’t live on Native Hawaiian lands will still have to pay taxes and license plates fees, etc — just like everyone else.”

Critics say the bill sets a dangerous precedent that could encourage other ethnic groups to seek similar recognition.

“If ethnic Hawaiians can be accorded tribal status, why not Chicanos in the Southwest? Or Cajuns in Louisiana?” testified Gail Heriot of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in a hearing before the House Natural Resource Committee in June. “Indeed, it is implausible to say that Congress has the power to confer this benefit only upon racial or ethnic groups, since ordinarily congressional power is at its lowest ebb with issues that touch on race or ethnicity.”