 |
Commissioners blast civil rights report
In early May, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report saying that Sen. Daniel Akaka’s Hawaiian federal recognition bill would “discriminate on the basis of race or national origin” and urging Congress to reject it. Four of the current seven members of the commission, half of whom are appointed by the president and half by Congress, voted to approve the report. Three of the commission’s four Republicans, all of whom are presidential appointees, voted in favor of the report, along with the panel’s lone Independent, a congressional appointee. The fourth Republican member abstained. Both of the commissioners who opposed the report are Democratic congressional appointees. Opponents of the Akaka Bill who claim it is illegally “race-based” immediately hailed the commission’s report as a victory. However, supporters of the measure were quick to call foul, citing inaccuracies in the report and problems with the commission’s process in considering the issue. For one thing, the commission took the unusual step of deleting the report’s “findings” section and releasing it anyway, after the document was found to have numerous inaccuracies regarding Hawaiian history. And members of the commission’s own Hawaii state advisory committee strongly denounced the report, expressing dismay that they had not even been consulted during consideration of the issue. In mid-May, the two commissioners who voted against approval of the report issued formal dissents and a public statement expressing “grave concerns” over the commission’s actions. Commissioner Michael Yaki, a San Francisco attorney who believes he is likely of Hawaiian ancestry, said, “The report as it stands now makes no sense. The lack of findings [or] factual analysis now makes the report the proverbial emperor without clothes. The conclusion of the commission stands without support, without backing, and will be looked upon, I believe, as irrelevant to the debate. Such is the risk one runs when scholarship and balance are lacking.” Commissioner Arlan Melendez,
chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Nevada, said, “I
respectfully remind my colleagues that in 49 other states indigenous
nations have peacefully coexisted with our neighbors for many
years. I can think of no reason, nor did we hear any testimony
to suggest one, why this would not also be the case in Hawaii.
As a tribal leader, I am deeply troubled that the Commission recommendation
could be read to suggest that the existence of Indian tribes within
the federal system is somehow undesirable and should not be extended
to Native Hawaiians.” PDF downloads: |
