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September 6, 2005
Akaka Bill Updates
Topics: Political News and commentariesIn one of several Akaka - related events today, a vote scheduled for today on whether the Akaka bill will get a full airing on the Senate floor has been postponed indefinitely as Congress focuses on the needs of Gulf Coast residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
(...) U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, lead author of the Akaka bill, was informed of the decision by Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., when Akaka returned to Washington yesterday, said Donalyn Dela Cruz, Akaka's spokeswoman.Senator Akaka now hopes for a vote in October 2005.(...) Attorney H. William Burgess, an opponent of the bill, called the delay good news.
(...) "We'll use any delay that happens well," Burgess said. "We'll spend the time fruitfully, getting more people more information about the consequences of the bill. It's just an opportunity to get Congress and the public better educated about what the bill would do."
As for the unions, there's no question where their support rests:
Union leaders produced some last minute oratory for the Akaka Bill. Clearly, the work that they derive from the 160 federally-funded Hawaiian programs was on their minds.In their rhetoric, the programs are described as worth "hundreds of millions of dollars." Also, the labor unions admit that many of their members are Native Hawaiians.
Roger Tokabayashi of the Hawaii State Teachers' Association (HSTA) states: "Teachers teach our students to celebrate diversity and to respect other cultures. We teach them respect is a basic human and civil right. Supporting the Akaka Bill is a way for us to live what we teach."
The HSTA represents some 13,000 members and seems to be able to control the legislature's donations to the oversized, under-performing Department of Education (DOE).
However, there's a distinction between racism and diversity.
Posted by at September 6, 2005 9:34 PM
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