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The following is an update and action suggestion from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) regarding Federal Recognition of Native Hawaiians, The American Home Ownership and Economic Opportunity Act, and FY2001 Appropriations for Indian programs.

Federal Recognition of Native Hawaiians: In July, Senator Akaka (HI) introduced S. 2899, a bill to establish a process for the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian government and to continue the government to government relationship between Native Hawaiians and the federal government. The bill builds on previous Congressional legislation which recognizes a special trust relationship between Native Hawaiians and the U.S. and would be a starting point from which Native Hawaiians may re-develop their own self-governance programs. A liaison office in the Department of the Interior (but outside the BIA) would be established to work with Native Hawaiians.

Currently, many programs for Native Hawaiians are administered through the state's Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). Until recently, OHA trustee positions were open only to Native Hawaiians and were elected by Native Hawaiians. In February 2000, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Rice v. Cayetano that, based on the 15th amendment, OHA elections for trusteeships should be open to all Hawaiian citizens. Proponents of this argument have promised to challenge other state and federal programs for Native Hawaiians in court as well.

Working groups made up of Native Hawaiians, federal and state representatives, Native Americans, and constitutional scholars drafted S. 2899 in response to the ruling in an attempt to clarify the legal relationship between Native Hawaiians and the U.S., to protect current programs for Native Hawaiians, and to support Native Hawaiian self-determination. S. 2899 was approved by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on September 14th and by the House Resources Committee on September 20th.

ACTION: Please contact your Senators and Representative and urge them to support passage of S. 2899 and the House equivalent, H.R. 4904, before the end of the session. For over 100 years, since the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown by agents and armed forces of the United States, the Native people of Hawaii have struggled to maintain their cultural and political identity. Although their government was overthrown, they never relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their lands. Slowly and incrementally, some progress has been made at both the state and federal levels to restore the capacity of Native Hawaiians to govern their own affairs. The Supreme Court's ruling in the Rice v. Cayetano case undermines this progress. S. 2899/H.R. 4904 would reaffirm the trust relationship between the federal government and Native Hawaiians and assert the importance of self-determination and self-governance for Native Hawaiians.

The American Home Ownership and Economic Opportunity Act: In April, the House passed H.R. 1776, The American Home Ownership and Economic Opportunity Act, which includes several provisions on Indian housing. In June, the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation held a hearing on H.R. 1776, but since that point no action has been taken. Within H.R. 1776 are several amendments to the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA), a provision to create a trust lands commission to review obstacles to individuals seeking mortgages on trust lands, and a section which would extend NAHASDA to Native Hawaiians.

Action: Please contact your Senators and ask them to support H.R. 1776 and to encourage its passage in the Senate before the end of the session. Native communities are hard hit by housing shortages. 40% of homes in tribal areas are overcrowded and have serious physical deficiencies. In comparison, only 5.9% of housing nationally is considered inadequate. The gross inadequacies in housing in Native communities demands the attention of Congress.

As part of the federal trust responsibility, Congress should provide for basic services, including adequate housing, to indigenous communities in the U.S. Yet even Native Americans who can afford to build or buy their own homes on reservations meet unparalleled difficulties in the mortgage process, in part because of the BIA's slow bureaucracy and trust land mismanagement. A trust lands commission to review BIA management would be a first step in ensuring that the federal government does not stand as an obstacle to home ownership in Indian Country.

Among Native communities in the U.S., Native Hawaiians suffer from the poorest housing conditions. Approximately 95% of Native Hawaiians eligible to live on Hawaiian homelands are in need of housing. Tribes throughout the U.S. have clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of self-governance programs in improving the quality of life in their communities in the areas of education, health care, and most recently housing. Extending NAHASDA to Native Hawaiians would support Native Hawaiian self-governance and help open opportunities for Native Hawaiians to have similar success in addressing the dramatic housing needs in their communities.

FY2001 Funding for Indian Programs: Needs in Indian Country will continue to go unmet in the coming year without substantial increases in the FY01 Interior Appropriations bill (HR 4578) for the Interior in FY2001. The Administration requested $1.2 billion in new funds for FY01, a 14.4% overall increase over FY00 spending for Indian programs. The majority of fund for Indian programs are included in the Interior appropriations bill.

Both the House and the Senate passed their versions of the bill. The Senate bill would provide a $350 million (7.4%) increase. The House bill would provide only a $60 million (1.3%) boost in overall funding for Indian programs-not even enough to maintain current programs when inflation is factored in. A House/Senate conference committee is working on the bill now to reconcile differences between chambers and with the White House.

For more information, please see previous NALUs on FCNL's website, www.fcnl.org Use FCNL's web site to make letter-writing easier. Start with the sample letter to members of Congress posted in our Legislative Action Center, personalize the language, then send your message as an email directly from our site or print it out and mail it.

ACTION: Please contact President Clinton and urge him to stand firm in the administration's funding requests. Thank him for his Native American Initiative and for drawing attention to the state of education, health care, and economic development in Indian Country. Express your concern that the pending Interior and other appropriations bills would provide too little to meet the needs in Indian Country. Urge him to include this concern in his negotiations with the congressional leadership over appropriations bills that provide funds for Indian Programs.

Contacting Policy Makers: Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

FCNL Native American Legislative Updates are intended as a supplement to other FCNL Native American Program materials and do not reflect FCNL's complete policy position on any issue, nor do they include all pertinent facts on any topic. For more information, or to request the FCNL Indian Report and other background documents, please contact the FCNL's Native American Advocacy Program: (202) 547-6000, 245 2nd St. NE, Washington, DC 20002; Indian@fcnl.org.