WASHINGTON, May 30 (UPI) -- Hawaiian politicians are urging passage of a bill that would allow a separate government for ethnic Hawaiians.
Sponsored by Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, with support from Gov. Linda Lingle and other Republicans in the islands, the measure would designate ethnic Hawaiians, thought to account for about 20 percent of the state's population, as an "indigenous people," the Washington Times reported Monday.
"All my bill does is clarify the political and legal relationship between native Hawaiians and the United States, thereby establishing parity in the federal policies towards American Indians, Alaska natives and native Hawaiians," Akaka said.
But Republicans in the Senate decry the bill.
"By creating a race-based government in the United States, we would be enhancing a trend toward the Balkanization of our culture," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate Republican Policy Committee chairman. "This would be the first time that we would actually be creating a race-based government entity within the United States."
