
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC4221]

 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
  CHAPTER 43--NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND SELF-DETERMINATION
 
        SUBCHAPTER VIII--HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS
 
Sec. 4221. Definitions

    In this subchapter:

          (1) Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Department

        The term ``Department of Hawaiian Home Lands'' or ``Department'' 
    means the agency or department of the government of the State of 
    Hawaii that is responsible for the administration of the Hawaiian 
    Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.).

                            (2) Director

        The term ``Director'' means the Director of the Department of 
    Hawaiian Home Lands.

             (3) Elderly families; near-elderly families

        (A) In general

            The term ``elderly family'' or ``near-elderly family'' means 
        a family whose head (or his or her spouse), or whose sole 
        member, is--
                (i) for an elderly family, an elderly person; or
                (ii) for a near-elderly family, a near-elderly person.

        (B) Certain families included

            The term ``elderly family'' or ``near-elderly family'' 
        includes--
                (i) two or more elderly persons or near-elderly persons, 
            as the case may be, living together; and
                (ii) one or more persons described in clause (i) living 
            with one or more persons determined under the housing plan 
            to be essential to their care or well-being.

                       (4) Hawaiian Home Lands

        The term ``Hawaiian Home Lands'' means lands that--
            (A) have the status as Hawaiian home lands under section 204 
        of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 110); or
            (B) are acquired pursuant to that Act.

                          (5) Housing area

        The term ``housing area'' means an area of Hawaiian Home Lands 
    with respect to which the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is 
    authorized to provide assistance for affordable housing under this 
    chapter.

                         (6) Housing entity

        The term ``housing entity'' means the Department of Hawaiian 
    Home Lands.

                          (7) Housing plan

        The term ``housing plan'' means a plan developed by the 
    Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

                          (8) Median income

        The term ``median income'' means, with respect to an area that 
    is a Hawaiian housing area, the greater of--
            (A) the median income for the Hawaiian housing area, which 
        shall be determined by the Secretary; or
            (B) the median income for the State of Hawaii.

                         (9) Native Hawaiian

        The term ``Native Hawaiian'' means any individual who is--
            (A) a citizen of the United States; and
            (B) a descendant of the aboriginal people, who, prior to 
        1778, occupied and exercised sovereignty in the area that 
        currently constitutes the State of Hawaii, as evidenced by--
                (i) genealogical records;
                (ii) verification by kupuna (elders) or kama`aina (long-
            term community residents); or
                (iii) birth records of the State of Hawaii.

(Pub. L. 104-330, title VIII, Sec. 801, as added Pub. L. 106-568, title 
II, Sec. 203, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2876, and Pub. L. 106-569, title 
V, Sec. 513, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2969.)

                       References in Text

    The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, referred to in pars. (1) 
and (4)(B), is act July 9, 1921, ch. 42, 42 Stat. 108, as amended, which 
was classified generally to sections 691 to 718 of Title 48, Territories 
and Insular Possessions, and was omitted from the Code.
    This chapter, referred to in par. (5), was in the original ``this 
Act'', meaning Pub. L. 104-330, Oct. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 4016, as 
amended, known as the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act of 1996. For complete classification of this Act to 
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 4101 of this title 
and Tables.

                          Codification

    Pub. L. 106-568, Sec. 203, and Pub. L. 106-569, Sec. 513, enacted 
substantially identical sections 801 of Pub. L. 104-330. This section is 
based on the text of section 801 of Pub. L. 104-330, as added by Pub. L. 
106-569, Sec. 513.


                             Effective Date

    Pub. L. 104-330, title VIII, Sec. 808, as added by Pub. L. 106-569, 
title V, Sec. 513, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2979, provided that: 
``Except as otherwise expressly provided in this title [enacting this 
subchapter], this title shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 [Pub. 
L. 106-569, approved Dec. 27, 2000].''
    Pub. L. 104-330, title VIII, Sec. 808, as added by Pub. L. 106-568, 
title II, Sec. 203, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2885, provided that: 
``Except as otherwise expressly provided in this title [enacting this 
subchapter], this title shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination 
Amendments of 2000 [probably should be the Hawaiian Homelands Ownership 
Act of 2000, title II of Pub. L. 106-568, approved Dec. 27, 2000].''


                                Findings

    Pub. L. 106-569, title V, Sec. 512, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2966, 
provided that: ``The Congress finds that--
        ``(1) the United States has undertaken a responsibility to 
    promote the general welfare of the United States by--
            ``(A) employing its resources to remedy the unsafe and 
        unsanitary housing conditions and the acute shortage of decent, 
        safe, and sanitary dwellings for families of lower income; and
            ``(B) developing effective partnerships with governmental 
        and private entities to accomplish the objectives referred to in 
        subparagraph (A);
        ``(2) the United States has a special responsibility for the 
    welfare of the Native peoples of the United States, including Native 
    Hawaiians;
        ``(3) pursuant to the provisions of the Hawaiian Homes 
    Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.) [former 48 U.S.C. 691 et 
    seq.], the United States set aside 200,000 acres of land in the 
    Federal territory that later became the State of Hawaii in order to 
    establish a homeland for the native people of Hawaii--Native 
    Hawaiians;
        ``(4) despite the intent of Congress in 1920 to address the 
    housing needs of Native Hawaiians through the enactment of the 
    Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.), Native 
    Hawaiians eligible to reside on the Hawaiian home lands have been 
    foreclosed from participating in Federal housing assistance programs 
    available to all other eligible families in the United States;
        ``(5) although Federal housing assistance programs have been 
    administered on a racially neutral basis in the State of Hawaii, 
    Native Hawaiians continue to have the greatest unmet need for 
    housing and the highest rates of overcrowding in the United States;
        ``(6) among the Native American population of the United States, 
    Native Hawaiians experience the highest percentage of housing 
    problems in the United States, as the percentage--
            ``(A) of housing problems in the Native Hawaiian population 
        is 49 percent, as compared to--
                ``(i) 44 percent for American Indian and Alaska Native 
            households in Indian country; and
                ``(ii) 27 percent for all other households in the United 
            States; and
            ``(B) overcrowding in the Native Hawaiian population is 36 
        percent as compared to 3 percent for all other households in the 
        United States;
        ``(7) among the Native Hawaiian population, the needs of Native 
    Hawaiians, as that term is defined in section 801 of the Native 
    American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 [25 
    U.S.C. 4221] (as added by this subtitle), eligible to reside on the 
    Hawaiian Home Lands are the most severe, as--
            ``(A) the percentage of overcrowding in Native Hawaiian 
        households on the Hawaiian Home Lands is 36 percent; and
            ``(B) approximately 13,000 Native Hawaiians, which 
        constitute 95 percent of the Native Hawaiians who are eligible 
        to reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands, are in need of housing;
        ``(8) applying the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
    guidelines--
            ``(A) 70.8 percent of Native Hawaiians who either reside or 
        who are eligible to reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands have 
        incomes that fall below the median family income; and
            ``(B) 50 percent of Native Hawaiians who either reside or 
        who are eligible to reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands have 
        incomes below 30 percent of the median family income;
        ``(9) one-third of those Native Hawaiians who are eligible to 
    reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands pay more than 30 percent of their 
    income for shelter, and one-half of those Native Hawaiians face 
    overcrowding;
        ``(10) the extraordinarily severe housing needs of Native 
    Hawaiians demonstrate that Native Hawaiians who either reside on, or 
    are eligible to reside on, Hawaiian Home Lands have been denied 
    equal access to Federal low-income housing assistance programs 
    available to other qualified residents of the United States, and 
    that a more effective means of addressing their housing needs must 
    be authorized;
        ``(11) consistent with the recommendations of the National 
    Commission on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian 
    Housing, and in order to address the continuing prevalence of 
    extraordinarily severe housing needs among Native Hawaiians who 
    either reside or are eligible to reside on the Hawaiian Home Lands, 
    Congress finds it necessary to extend the Federal low-income housing 
    assistance available to American Indians and Alaska Natives under 
    the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 
    1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) to those Native Hawaiians;
        ``(12) under the treatymaking power of the United States, 
    Congress had the constitutional authority to confirm a treaty 
    between the United States and the government that represented the 
    Hawaiian people, and from 1826 until 1893, the United States 
    recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii, extended full 
    diplomatic recognition to the Hawaiian Government, and entered into 
    treaties and conventions with the Hawaiian monarchs to govern 
    commerce and navigation in 1826, 1842, 1849, 1875, and 1887;
        ``(13) the United States has recognized and reaffirmed that--
            ``(A) Native Hawaiians have a cultural, historic, and land-
        based link to the indigenous people who exercised sovereignty 
        over the Hawaiian Islands, and that group has never relinquished 
        its claims to sovereignty or its sovereign lands;
            ``(B) Congress does not extend services to Native Hawaiians 
        because of their race, but because of their unique status as the 
        indigenous people of a once sovereign nation as to whom the 
        United States has established a trust relationship;
            ``(C) Congress has also delegated broad authority to 
        administer a portion of the Federal trust responsibility to the 
        State of Hawaii;
            ``(D) the political status of Native Hawaiians is comparable 
        to that of American Indians and Alaska Natives; and
            ``(E) the aboriginal, indigenous people of the United States 
        have--
                ``(i) a continuing right to autonomy in their internal 
            affairs; and
                ``(ii) an ongoing right of self-determination and self-
            governance that has never been extinguished;
        ``(14) the political relationship between the United States and 
    the Native Hawaiian people has been recognized and reaffirmed by the 
    United States as evidenced by the inclusion of Native Hawaiians in--
            ``(A) the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 
        2291 [2991] et seq.);
            ``(B) the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1996 et seq.);
            ``(C) the National Museum of the American Indian Act (20 
        U.S.C. 80q et seq.);
            ``(D) the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation 
        Act (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.);
            ``(E) the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 
        et seq.);
            ``(F) the Native American Languages Act of 1992 (106 Stat. 
        3434 [Pub. L. 102-524, see Short Title of 1992 Amendment note 
        set out under section 2991 of Title 42, The Public Health and 
        Welfare]);
            ``(G) the American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian 
        Culture and Arts [Art] Development Act (20 U.S.C. 4401 et seq.);
            ``(H) the Job Training Partnership Act ([former] 29 U.S.C. 
        1501 et seq.); and
            ``(I) the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et 
        seq.); and
        ``(15) in the area of housing, the United States has recognized 
    and reaffirmed the political relationship with the Native Hawaiian 
    people through--
            ``(A) the enactment of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 
        1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.), which set aside approximately 
        200,000 acres of public lands that became known as Hawaiian Home 
        Lands in the Territory of Hawaii that had been ceded to the 
        United States for homesteading by Native Hawaiians in order to 
        rehabilitate a landless and dying people;
            ``(B) the enactment of the Act entitled `An Act to provide 
        for the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union', 
        approved March 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 4) [Pub. L. 86-3, 48 U.S.C. 
        note prec. 491]--
                ``(i) by ceding to the State of Hawaii title to the 
            public lands formerly held by the United States, and 
            mandating that those lands be held in public trust, for the 
            betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiians, as that 
            term is defined in section 201 of the Hawaiian Homes 
            Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.); and
                ``(ii) by transferring the United States responsibility 
            for the administration of Hawaiian Home Lands to the State 
            of Hawaii, but retaining the authority to enforce the trust, 
            including the exclusive right of the United States to 
            consent to any actions affecting the lands which comprise 
            the corpus of the trust and any amendments to the Hawaiian 
            Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.), enacted 
            by the legislature of the State of Hawaii affecting the 
            rights of beneficiaries under the Act;
            ``(C) the authorization of mortgage loans insured by the 
        Federal Housing Administration for the purchase, construction, 
        or refinancing of homes on Hawaiian Home Lands under the 
        National Housing Act (Public Law 479; 73d Congress; 12 U.S.C. 
        1701 et seq.);
            ``(D) authorizing Native Hawaiian representation on the 
        National Commission on American Indian, Alaska Native, and 
        Native Hawaiian Housing under Public Law 101-235 [see Tables for 
        classification];
            ``(E) the inclusion of Native Hawaiians in the definition 
        under section 3764 of title 38, United States Code, applicable 
        to subchapter V of chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code 
        (relating to a housing loan program for Native American 
        veterans); and
            ``(F) the enactment of the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act 
        (109 Stat. 357; 48 U.S.C. 491, note prec.) [Pub. L. 104-42, 
        title II] which establishes a process for the conveyance of 
        Federal lands to the Department of Hawaiian Homes Lands that are 
        equivalent in value to lands acquired by the United States from 
        the Hawaiian Home Lands inventory.''
    Substantially identical provisions were contained in Pub. L. 106-
568, title II, Sec. 202, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2872.
