Political Quotes

“I would suggest that, if the Governor of the State of Hawaii and the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii both have concerns about it and if the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recommends against its passage for these very concerns, there is at least some question about whether or not it complies with the 14th Amendment. So why not adopt this amendment? If we are saying straight out that this complies with the 14th Amendment, why not simply adopt this amendment? There is definitely a question out there. If it were unanimous and if everyone were saying, Let's pass this legislation as it is, as there is no constitutional question, that would be one thing, but we certainly don't have that today. Let me just say that something was sent around to Members that was urging opposition to the Flake amendment, saying, ``H.R. 2314 already applies ICRA,'' or the Indian Civil Rights Act, ``to the entity, and requires the Secretary of the Interior to certify that the Native Hawaiian governing entity is in compliance with Federal law and that its governing documents provide for the protection of the civil rights of the citizens of the Native Hawaiian governing authority or entity.'' I would argue that we are talking apples and oranges here.”