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The U.S. Senate has scheduled debate and a vote in June on a bill that would initiate a process for Native Hawaiians to achieve the same level of self-governance and autonomy over their own affairs that many Native American tribes currently have.

Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), the main proponent of bill S. 147 (the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act) and a Native Hawaiian himself, had been giving daily speeches on the Senate floor in support of the bill since May 9 to raise awareness of the bill. So connected is Akaka to the bill that the bill has become known as the "Akaka Bill."

"I thank our majority leader, the senior senator from Tennessee, who is working to uphold his commitment to bring this bill to the Senate floor for a debate and roll call vote," Akaka said after receiving the pledge from Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on Friday. He also recognized his chief opponent, Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who worked with Akaka "to uphold his promise to allow the bill to come to the floor for a debate and roll call vote."

Frist is expected to file a cloture motion after the Senate returns from its May recess. A vote on the cloture motion would occur within 48 hours of filing.

Opponents of the bill, including Kyl, charge that the bill is an race-based privilege that the U.S. Constitution prohibits. Others, such as Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) imply that passage of the bill could have unintended consequences. In a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday that preceded Akaka's, Alexander likened the bill to recognizing Hispanics descended from pre-republican Texas or giving tribal status to Amish or Hassidic Jews, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported.

Akaka believes that he has bipartisan support for his bill, with four Republican senators pledging support for the bill. At least six Republican senators would need to vote for the bill for it to pass, assuming that the bill receives solid support from Akaka's fellow Democrats and the chamber's one independent member who usually votes with the Democrats.

A recent report from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission recommended that the bill be rejected.

Supporters of the bill, which include the Democratic members of Hawaii's congressional delegation and Republican governor Linda Lingle, counter that Hawaii is a unique case because of its former history as an independent nation before the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.

Kyl had placed a block on the bill when it was originally placed on the Senate schedule in July 2005, but has since agreed to allow the bill to come to a floor vote. The bill was later deferred indefinitely due in part to Hurricane Katrina.

Sources

• David Waite "Akaka bill set for for June hearing in Senate". Honolulu Advertiser, May 12, 2006
• Rod Antone "Senate schedules Akaka bill vote in June". Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 12, 2006
• Richard Borreca "Akaka pushes bill with Senate speeches". Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 10, 2006
• "Akaka's daily pleas might help sovereignty". Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 12, 2006

This article originally appeared at WikiNews.

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