STAND. COM. REP. NO.843

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: S.B. No. 500

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 500 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DILLINGHAM AIRFIELD,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to rename Dillingham Airfield as Kawaihapai Airfield.

Your Committees heard testimony in support of the measure from the Department of Transportation, Liliuokalani Protestant-Church, and three private individuals.

Your Committees find that Dillingham Airfield is currently owned by the United States Army and leased to the State of Hawaii, and that negotiations are in process to transfer the land to the State. As the traditional name for the ahupua'a in which the airfield is located is Kawaihapai, this name would be a very appropriate one for the airfield.

Such a renaming would be a small but critically important gesture of respect for the language, culture, and history of our host culture. It would also be consistent with Article XV section 4 of the Hawaii State Constitution which provides that Hawaiian shall be one of the official languages of the State. Indeed, language is the soul of a people, and common decency and historical necessity demand that the soul of the indigenous Hawaiian people be respected.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 500 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Hawaiian Affairs,

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JONATHAN CHUN, Chair

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CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair