IB 
Union Calendar No. 460 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4282 
[Report No. 108–742] 
To express the policy of the United States regarding the United States 
relationship with Native Hawaiians and to provide a process for the 
recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian governing 
entity, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 5, 2004 
Mr. ABERCROMBIE (for himself, Mr. CASE, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. YOUNG of Alas-
ka, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Resources 
OCTOBER 6, 2004 
Additional sponsors: Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, 
and Mr. KILDEE 
OCTOBER 6, 2004 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
A BILL 
To express the policy of the United States regarding the 
United States relationship with Native Hawaiians and 
to provide a process for the recognition by the United 
States of the Native Hawaiian governing entity, and 
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native Hawaiian Gov-
ernment Reorganization Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the Constitution vests Congress with the au-
thority to address the conditions of the indigenous, 
native people of the United States; 
(2) Native Hawaiians, the native people of the 
Hawaiian archipelago that is now part of the United 
States, are indigenous, native people of the United 
States; 
(3) the United States has a special political and 
legal responsibility to promote the welfare of the na-
tive people of the United States, including Native 
Hawaiians; 
(4) under the treaty making power of the 
United States, Congress exercised its constitutional 
authority to confirm treaties between the United 
States and the Kingdom of Hawaii, and from 1826 
until 1893, the United States— 
(A) recognized the sovereignty of the King-
dom of Hawaii;
(B) accorded full diplomatic recognition to 
the Kingdom of Hawaii; and 
(C) entered into treaties and conventions 
with the Kingdom of Hawaii to govern com-
merce and navigation in 1826, 1842, 1849, 
1875, and 1887; 
(5) pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commis-
sion Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42), the 
United States set aside approximately 203,500 acres 
of land to address the conditions of Native Hawai-
ians in the Federal territory that later became the 
State of Hawaii; 
(6) by setting aside 203,500 acres of land for 
Native Hawaiian homesteads and farms, the Hawai-
ian Homes Commission Act assists the members of 
the Native Hawaiian community in maintaining dis-
tinct native settlements throughout the State of Ha-
waii; 
(7) approximately 6,800 Native Hawaiian fami-
lies reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands and ap-
proximately 18,000 Native Hawaiians who are eligi-
ble to reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands are on 
a waiting list to receive assignments of Hawaiian 
Home Lands;
(8)(A) in 1959, as part of the compact with the 
United States admitting Hawaii into the Union, 
Congress established a public trust (commonly 
known as the ‘‘ceded lands trust’’), for 5 purposes, 
1 of which is the betterment of the conditions of Na-
tive Hawaiians; 
(B) the public trust consists of lands, including 
submerged lands, natural resources, and the reve-
nues derived from the lands; and 
(C) the assets of this public trust have never 
been completely inventoried or segregated; 
(9) Native Hawaiians have continuously sought 
access to the ceded lands in order to establish and 
maintain native settlements and distinct native com-
munities throughout the State; 
(10) the Hawaiian Home Lands and other 
ceded lands provide an important foundation for the 
ability of the Native Hawaiian community to main-
tain the practice of Native Hawaiian culture, lan-
guage, and traditions, and for the survival and eco-
nomic self-sufficiency of the Native Hawaiian people; 
(11) Native Hawaiians continue to maintain 
other distinctly native areas in Hawaii; 
(12) on November 23, 1993, Public Law 103– 
150 (107 Stat. 1510) (commonly known as the
‘‘Apology Resolution’’) was enacted into law, extend-
ing an apology on behalf of the United States to the 
native people of Hawaii for the United States’ role 
in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii; 
(13) the Apology Resolution acknowledges that 
the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred 
with the active participation of agents and citizens 
of the United States and further acknowledges that 
the Native Hawaiian people never directly relin-
quished to the United States their claims to their in-
herent sovereignty as a people over their national 
lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or 
through a plebiscite or referendum; 
(14) the Apology Resolution expresses the com-
mitment of Congress and the President— 
(A) to acknowledge the ramifications of the 
overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii; 
(B) to support reconciliation efforts be-
tween the United States and Native Hawaiians; 
and 
(C) to consult with Native Hawaiians on 
the reconciliation process as called for in the 
Apology Resolution; 
(15) despite the overthrow of the government of 
the Kingdom of Hawaii, Native Hawaiians have con-
tinued to maintain their separate identity as a dis-
tinct native community through cultural, social, and 
political institutions, and to give expression to their 
rights as native people to self-determination, self-gov-
ernance, and economic self-sufficiency; 
(16) Native Hawaiians have also given expres-
sion to their rights as native people to self-deter-
mination, self-governance, and economic self-suffi-
ciency— 
(A) through the provision of governmental 
services to Native Hawaiians, including the pro-
vision of— 
(i) health care services; 
(ii) educational programs; 
(iii) employment and training pro-
grams; 
(iv) economic development assistance 
programs; 
(v) children’s services; 
(vi) conservation programs; 
(vii) fish and wildlife protection; 
(viii) agricultural programs; 
(ix) native language immersion pro-
grams;
(x) native language immersion schools 
from kindergarten through high school; 
(xi) college and master’s degree pro-
grams in native language immersion in-
struction; and 
(xii) traditional justice programs; and 
(B) by continuing their efforts to enhance 
Native Hawaiian self-determination and local 
control; 
(17) Native Hawaiians are actively engaged in 
Native Hawaiian cultural practices, traditional agri-
cultural methods, fishing and subsistence practices, 
maintenance of cultural use areas and sacred sites, 
protection of burial sites, and the exercise of their 
traditional rights to gather medicinal plants and 
herbs, and food sources; 
(18) the Native Hawaiian people wish to pre-
serve, develop, and transmit to future generations of 
Native Hawaiians their lands and Native Hawaiian 
political and cultural identity in accordance with 
their traditions, beliefs, customs and practices, lan-
guage, and social and political institutions, to con-
trol and manage their own lands, including ceded 
lands, and to achieve greater self-determination over 
their own affairs;
(19) this Act provides a process within the 
framework of Federal law for the Native Hawaiian 
people to exercise their inherent rights as a distinct, 
indigenous, native community to reorganize a Native 
Hawaiian governing entity for the purpose of giving 
expression to their rights as native people to self-de-
termination and self-governance; 
(20) Congress— 
(A) has declared that the United States 
has a special responsibility for the welfare of 
the native peoples of the United States, includ-
ing Native Hawaiians; 
(B) has identified Native Hawaiians as a 
distinct group of indigenous, native people of 
the United States within the scope of its au-
thority under the Constitution, and has enacted 
scores of statutes on their behalf; and 
(C) has delegated broad authority to the 
State of Hawaii to administer some of the 
United States’ responsibilities as they relate to 
the Native Hawaiian people and their lands; 
(21) the United States has recognized and re-
affirmed the special political and legal relationship 
with the Native Hawaiian people through the enact-
ment of the Act entitled, ‘‘An Act to provide for the
admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union’’, 
approved March 18, 1959 (Public Law 86–3; 73 
Stat. 4), by— 
(A) ceding to the State of Hawaii title to 
the public lands formerly held by the United 
States, and mandating that those lands be held 
as a public trust for 5 purposes, 1 of which is 
for the betterment of the conditions of Native 
Hawaiians; and 
(B) transferring the United States’ respon-
sibility for the administration of the Hawaiian 
Home Lands to the State of Hawaii, but retain-
ing the authority to enforce the trust, including 
the exclusive right of the United States to con-
sent to any actions affecting the lands that 
comprise the corpus of the trust and any 
amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commis-
sion Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42) that 
are enacted by the legislature of the State of 
Hawaii affecting the beneficiaries under the 
Act; 
(22) the United States has continually recog-
nized and reaffirmed that— 
(A) Native Hawaiians have a cultural, his-
toric, and land-based link to the aboriginal, in-
digenous, native people who exercised sov-
ereignty over the Hawaiian Islands; 
(B) Native Hawaiians have never relin-
quished their claims to sovereignty or their sov-
ereign lands; 
(C) the United States extends services to 
Native Hawaiians because of their unique sta-
tus as the indigenous, native people of a once- 
sovereign nation with whom the United States 
has a political and legal relationship; and 
(D) the special trust relationship of Amer-
ican Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Ha-
waiians to the United States arises out of their 
status as aboriginal, indigenous, native people 
of the United States; and 
(23) the State of Hawaii supports the reaffir-
mation of the political and legal relationship between 
the Native Hawaiian governing entity and the 
United States as evidenced by 2 unanimous resolu-
tions enacted by the Hawaii State Legislature in the 
2000 and 2001 sessions of the Legislature and by 
the testimony of the Governor of the State of Hawaii 
before the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Sen-
ate on February 25, 2003.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ABORIGINAL, INDIGENOUS, NATIVE
PEO-
PLE.—The term ‘‘aboriginal, indigenous, native peo-
ple’’ means people whom Congress has recognized as 
the original inhabitants of the lands that later be-
came part of the United States and who exercised 
sovereignty in the areas that later became part of 
the United States. 
(2) ADULT MEMBER.—The term ‘‘adult mem-
ber’’ means a Native Hawaiian who has attained the 
age of 18 and who elects to participate in the reor-
ganization of the Native Hawaiian governing entity. 
(3) APOLOGY RESOLUTION.—The term ‘‘Apol-
ogy Resolution’’ means Public Law 103–150, (107 
Stat. 1510), a Joint Resolution extending an apol-
ogy to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United 
States for the participation of agents of the United 
States in the January 17, 1893 overthrow of the 
Kingdom of Hawaii. 
(4) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘commission’’ 
means the Commission established under section 
7(b) to provide for the certification that those adult 
members of the Native Hawaiian community listed 
on the roll meet the definition of Native Hawaiian 
set forth in section 3(8).
(5) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘council’’ means the 
Native Hawaiian Interim Governing Council estab-
lished under section 7(c)(2). 
(6) INDIGENOUS, NATIVE PEOPLE.—The term 
‘‘indigenous, native people’’ means the lineal de-
scendants of the aboriginal, indigenous, native peo-
ple of the United States. 
(7) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING GROUP.—The 
term ‘‘Interagency Coordinating Group’’ means the 
Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group 
established under section 6. 
(8) NATIVE HAWAIIAN.—For the purpose of es-
tablishing the roll authorized under section 7(c)(1) 
and before the reaffirmation of the political and 
legal relationship between the United States and the 
Native Hawaiian governing entity, the term ‘‘Native 
Hawaiian’’ means— 
(A) an individual who is one of the indige-
nous, native people of Hawaii and who is a di-
rect lineal descendant of the aboriginal, indige-
nous, native people who— 
(i) resided in the islands that now 
comprise the State of Hawaii on or before 
January 1, 1893; and
(2) the United States has a special political and 
legal relationship with the Native Hawaiian people 
which includes promoting the welfare of Native Ha-
waiians; 
(3) Congress possesses the authority under the 
Constitution, including but not limited to Article I, 
section 8, clause 3, to enact legislation to address 
the conditions of Native Hawaiians and has exer-
cised this authority through the enactment of— 
(A) the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 
1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42); 
(B) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 
the admission of the State of Hawaii into the 
Union’’, approved March 18, 1959 (Public Law 
86–3, 73 Stat. 4); and 
(C) more than 150 other Federal laws ad-
dressing the conditions of Native Hawaiians; 
(4) Native Hawaiians have— 
(A) an inherent right to autonomy in their 
internal affairs; 
(B) an inherent right of self-determination 
and self-governance; 
(C) the right to reorganize a Native Ha-
waiian governing entity; and
(D) the right to become economically self- 
sufficient; and 
(5) the United States shall continue to engage 
in a process of reconciliation and political relations 
with the Native Hawaiian people. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
a process for the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian 
governing entity and the reaffirmation of the political and 
legal relationship between the United States and the Na-
tive Hawaiian governing entity for purposes of continuing 
a government-to-government relationship. 
SEC. 5. UNITED STATES OFFICE FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN RE-
LATIONS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the Office of the Secretary of the United States Office for 
Native Hawaiian Relations. 
(b) DUTIES.—The Office shall— 
(1) continue the process of reconciliation with 
the Native Hawaiian people in furtherance of the 
Apology Resolution; 
(2) upon the reaffirmation of the political and 
legal relationship between the Native Hawaiian gov-
erning entity and the United States, effectuate and 
coordinate the special political and legal relationship 
between the Native Hawaiian governing entity and
the United States through the Secretary, and with 
all other Federal agencies; 
(3) fully integrate the principle and practice of 
meaningful, regular, and appropriate consultation 
with the Native Hawaiian governing entity by pro-
viding timely notice to, and consulting with, the Na-
tive Hawaiian people and the Native Hawaiian gov-
erning entity before taking any actions that may 
have the potential to significantly affect Native Ha-
waiian resources, rights, or lands; 
(4) consult with the Interagency Coordinating 
Group, other Federal agencies, the Governor of the 
State of Hawaii and relevant agencies of the State 
of Hawaii on policies, practices, and proposed ac-
tions affecting Native Hawaiian resources, rights, or 
lands; and 
(5) prepare and submit to the Committee on 
Indian Affairs and the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources of the Senate, the Committee on 
Resources of the House of Representatives, an an-
nual report detailing the activities of the Interagency 
Coordinating Group that are undertaken with re-
spect to the continuing process of reconciliation and 
to effect meaningful consultation with the Native 
Hawaiian governing entity and providing rec-
ommendations for any necessary changes to Federal 
law or regulations promulgated under the authority 
of Federal law. 
SEC. 6. NATIVE HAWAIIAN INTERAGENCY COORDINATING 
GROUP. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In recognition that Federal 
programs authorized to address the conditions of Native 
Hawaiians are largely administered by Federal agencies 
other than the Department of the Interior, there is estab-
lished an interagency coordinating group to be known as 
the ‘‘Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group’’. 
(b) COMPOSITION.—The Interagency Coordinating 
Group shall be composed of officials, to be designated by 
the President, from— 
(1) each Federal agency that administers Na-
tive Hawaiian programs, establishes or implements 
policies that affect Native Hawaiians, or whose ac-
tions may significantly or uniquely impact Native 
Hawaiian resources, rights, or lands; and 
(2) the Office. 
(c) LEAD AGENCY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Department of the Inte-
rior shall serve as the lead agency of the Interagency 
Coordinating Group.
(2) MEETINGS.—The Secretary shall convene 
meetings of the Interagency Coordinating Group. 
(d) DUTIES.—The Interagency Coordinating Group 
shall— 
(1) coordinate Federal programs and policies 
that affect Native Hawaiians or actions by any agen-
cy or agencies of the Federal Government that may 
significantly or uniquely affect Native Hawaiian re-
sources, rights, or lands; 
(2) ensure that each Federal agency develops a 
policy on consultation with the Native Hawaiian peo-
ple, and upon the reaffirmation of the political and 
legal relationship between the Native Hawaiian gov-
erning entity and the United States, consultation 
with the Native Hawaiian governing entity; and 
(3) ensure the participation of each Federal 
agency in the development of the report to Congress 
authorized in section 5(b)(5).