II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 109

To provide Federal housing assistance to Native Hawaiians.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21, 1997

Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mr. AKAKA) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To provide Federal housing assistance to Native Hawaiians.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native Hawaiian

5 Housing Assistance Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings:

9 (1) The Federal Government has a responsibil10 ity to promote the general welfare of the Nation by

11 employing its resources to remedy the unsafe and
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1 unsanitary housing conditions and the acute short2 age of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for fami3 lies of lower income and by developing effective part4 nerships with governmental and private entities to

5 accomplish these objectives.

6 (2) Based upon the status of the Kingdom of

7 Hawaii as an internationally recognized and inde8 pendent sovereign and the unique historical and po9 litical relationship between the United States and

10 Native Hawaiians, the Native Hawaiian people have

11 a continuing right to local autonomy in traditional

12 and cultural affairs and an ongoing right of self-de13 termination and self-governance that has never been

14 extinguished.

15 (3) The authority of Congress under the Con16 stitution of the United States to legislate and ad17 dress matters affecting the rights of indigenous peo18 ples of the United States includes the authority to

19 legislate in matters affecting Native Hawaiians.

20 (4) In 1921, in recognition of the severe decline

21 in the Native Hawaiian population, Congress en22 acted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920,

23 which set aside approximately 200,000 acres of the

24 ceded public lands for homesteading by Native Ha25 waiians, thereby affirming the special relationship
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1 between the United States and the Native Hawai2 ians.

3 (5) In 1959, under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to

4 provide for the admission of the State of Hawaii into

5 the Union’’, approved March 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 4),

6 the United States reaffirmed the special relationship

7 between the United States and the Native Hawaiian

8 people—

9 (A) by transferring what the United States

10 deemed to be a trust responsibility for the ad11 ministration of the Hawaiian Home Lands to

12 the State of Hawaii, but continuing Federal su13 perintendence by retaining the power to enforce

14 the trust, including the exclusive right of the

15 United States to consent to land exchanges and

16 any amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Com17 mission Act, 1920, enacted by the legislature of

18 the State of Hawaii affecting the rights of bene19 ficiaries under such Act; and

20 (B) by ceding to the State of Hawaii title

21 to the public lands formerly held by the United

22 States, mandating that such lands be held ‘‘in

23 public trust’’ for ‘‘the betterment of the condi24 tions of Native Hawaiians, as defined in the

25 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920’’, and
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1 continuing Federal superintendence by retain2 ing the exclusive legal responsibility to enforce

3 this public trust.

4 (6) In recognition of the special relationship

5 that exists between the United States and the Native

6 Hawaiian people, Congress has extended to Native

7 Hawaiians the same rights and privileges accorded

8 to American Indians and Alaska Natives under the

9 Native American Programs Act of 1974, the Amer10 ican Indian Religious Freedom Act, the National

11 Museum of the American Indian Act, the Native

12 American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,

13 the National Historic Preservation Act, the Native

14 American Languages Act, the American Indian,

15 Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Culture and

16 Arts Development Act, the Job Training and Part17 nership Act, and the Older Americans Act of 1965.

18 (7) The special relationship has been recognized

19 and reaffirmed by the United States in the area of

20 housing—

21 (A) through the authorization of mortgage

22 loans insured by the Federal Housing Adminis23 tration for the purchase, construction, or refi24 nancing of homes on Hawaiian Home Lands

25 under the National Housing Act;
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1 (B) by mandating Native Hawaiian rep2 resentation on the National Commission on

3 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native

4 Hawaiian Housing;

5 (C) by the inclusion of Native Hawaiians

6 in the Native American Veterans’ Home Loan

7 Equity Act; and

8 (D) by enactment of the Hawaiian Home

9 Lands Recovery Act, which establishes a proc10 ess that enables the Federal Government to

11 convey lands to the Department of Hawaiian

12 Home Lands equivalent in value to lands ac13 quired by the Federal Government.

14 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol15 lows:

16 (1) To implement the recommendation of the

17 National Commission on American Indian, Alaska

18 Native, and Native Hawaiian Housing (in this Act

19 referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) that Congress es20 tablish a Native Hawaiian Housing and Infrastruc21 ture Assistance Program to alleviate and address the

22 severe housing needs of Native Hawaiians by extend23 ing to them the same Federal housing assistance

24 available to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
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1 (2) To address the following needs of the Na2 tive Hawaiian population, as documented in the

3 Final Report of the Commission, ‘‘Building the Fu4 ture: A Blueprint for Change’’ (1992); the United

5 States Department of Housing and Urban Develop6 ment report, ‘‘Housing Problems and Needs of Na7 tive Hawaiians (1995);’’ and the State Department

8 of Hawaiian Home Lands report ‘‘Department of

9 Hawaiian Home Lands Beneficiary Needs Study’’

10 (1995):

11 (A) Native Hawaiians experience the high12 est percentage of housing problems in the Na13 tion: 49 percent, compared to 44 percent for

14 American Indian and Alaska Native households

15 in tribal areas, and 27 percent for all United

16 States households, particularly in the area of

17 overcrowding (27 percent versus 3 percent na18 tionally) with 36 percent of Hawaiian home19 lands households experiencing overcrowding.

20 (B) Native Hawaiians have the worst hous21 ing conditions in the State of Hawaii and are

22 seriously over represented in the State’s home23 less population, representing over 30 percent.
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1 (C) Among the Native Hawaiian popu2 lation, the needs of the native Hawaiians eligi3 ble for Hawaiian homelands are the most se4 vere. 95 percent of the current applicants, ap5 proximately 13,000 Native Hawaiians, are in

6 need of housing, with one-half of those appli7 cant households facing overcrowding and one8 third paying more than 30 percent of their in9 come for shelter. Under Department of Housing

10 and Urban Development guidelines, 70.8 per11 cent of Department of Hawaiian Homelands

12 lessees and applicants fall below the Depart13 ment of Housing and Urban Development me14 dian family income, with more than half having

15 incomes below 30 percent.

16 SEC. 3. HOUSING ASSISTANCE.

17 The Native American Housing Assistance and Self18 Determination Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–330) is

19 amended by adding at the end the following new title:

20 ‘‘TITLE VIII—HOUSING ASSIST21 ANCE FOR NATIVE HAWAI22 IANS

23 ‘‘SEC. 801. DEFINITIONS.

24 ‘‘In this title—
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Department of Hawaiian Home

2 Lands’ means the department of the State of Hawaii

3 that is responsible for the administration of the Ha4 waiian Homes Commission Act, 1920;

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Hawaiian Home Lands’ means

6 those lands set aside by the United States for home7 steading by Native Hawaiians under the Hawaiian

8 Homes Commission Act, 1920, and any other lands

9 acquired pursuant to that Act; and

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Native Hawaiian’ has the same

11 meaning as in section 201 of the Hawaiian Homes

12 Commission Act, 1920.

13 ‘‘SEC. 802. BLOCK GRANTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AC14 TIVITIES.

15 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—For each fiscal year, the Sec16 retary shall (to the extent amounts are made available to

17 carry out this title) make grants under this section on be18 half of Native Hawaiian families to carry out affordable

19 housing activities in the State of Hawaii. Under such a

20 grant, the Secretary shall provide the grant amounts di21 rectly to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The

22 Department of Hawaiian Home Lands shall, to the maxi23 mum extent practicable, employ private nonprofit organi24 zations experienced in the planning and development of
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1 affordable housing for Native Hawaiians, in order to carry

2 out such activities.

3 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

5 titles I through IV apply to assistance provided

6 under this section in the same manner as titles I

7 through IV apply to assistance provided on behalf of

8 an Indian tribe under title I.

9 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may by regu10 lation provide for such modifications to the applica11 bility of titles I through IV to assistance provided

12 under this section as the Secretary determines to be

13 necessary to meet the unique housing needs of Na14 tive Hawaiians.

15 ‘‘SEC. 803. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

17 as may be necessary to carry out this title for each of

18 fiscal years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.’’.

19 SEC. 4. LOAN GUARANTEES FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN HOUS20 ING.

21 Section 184 of the Housing and Community Develop22 ment Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–13a) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (k), by adding at the end the

24 following new paragraphs:
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1 ‘‘(10) The term ‘Hawaiian Home Lands’ means

2 those lands set aside by the United States for home3 steading by Native Hawaiians under the Hawaiian

4 Homes Commission Act, 1920, and any other lands

5 acquired pursuant to that Act.

6 ‘‘(11) The term ‘Native Hawaiian’ has the same

7 meaning as in section 201 of the Hawaiian Homes

8 Commission Act, 1920.

9 ‘‘(12) The term ‘Native Hawaiian housing au10 thority’ means any public body (or agency or instru11 mentality thereof) established under the laws of the

12 State of Hawaii, that is authorized to engage in or

13 assist in the development or operation of low-income

14 housing for Native Hawaiians, and includes the De15 partment of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office

16 of Hawaiian Affairs.’’; and

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub18 section:

19 ‘‘(l) APPLICABILITY TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN HOUS20 ING.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2)

22 and (3), subsections (a) through (k) apply to Native

23 Hawaiian families, Native Hawaiian housing au24 thorities, and private nonprofit organizations experi25 enced in the planning and development of affordable
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1 housing for Native Hawaiians, in the same manner

2 as those subsections apply to Indian families and to

3 Indian housing authorities, respectively.

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may by regu5 lation provide for such modifications to the applica6 bility of subsections (a) through (k) to Native Ha7 waiian families, Native Hawaiian housing authori8 ties, and private nonprofit organizations experienced

9 in the planning and development of affordable hous10 ing for Native Hawaiians as the Secretary deter11 mines to be necessary to meet the unique housing

12 needs of Native Hawaiians.

13 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Any assistance provided

14 under this subsection, including any assistance pro15 vided to Native Hawaiians not residing on the Ha16 waiian Home Lands, shall be limited to the State of

17 Hawaii.

18 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

19 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

20 as may be necessary to carry out this subsection.’’.

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