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Opinion: Say 'aloha' to Native Hawaiian recognition bill
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Filed Under: Opinion | Recognition

"What's the worst piece of legislation before Congress associated with the letter H? Most conservatives and Republicans, many moderates and Independents and even some liberals and Democrats would answer: one of the health care bills.

But there's a robust competitor for this honor, passed by the House last week and currently before the Senate: the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act.

As with so much legislation, the title is Orwellian. The bill, sponsored Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, does not reorganize a Native Hawaiian government, it creates one.

It states that people of Native Hawaiian descent can organize themselves as an Indian tribe. It would have "inherent powers and privileges of self-government," including presumably the power to tax, to enact criminal laws and to use eminent domain to seize private property.

There is good reason to believe this is unconstitutional. The Constitution empowers Congress to recognize established Indian tribes and to grant them self-governance. But the Constitution doesn't give it the power to create an Indian tribe.

Native Hawaiians are not and never have been an Indian tribe. The kingdom and the republic of Hawaii were multiracial societies, not tribal entities, until annexation by the United States in 1898."

Get the Story:
Michael Barone: Will Senate say aloha to racial discrimination? (The Washington Examiner 3/3)

Native Hawaiian Bill:
H.R.862 | S.381