STATEMENT OF IRWIN W. SILVERMAN, CHIEF COUNSEL, TERRITORIAL AND ISLAND POSSESSIONS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Mr. SILVERMAN. I should merely like to state, Mr. Redden, Interior's views were set forth in the letter which the Secretary of the Interior submitted to the committee for your consideration, and that this report was cleared through the Bureau of the Budget, and that it is in accordance with the President's program. I can add very little to that. All that had already been said over the past years, and Interior's view is well known. We of Interior and, as evidenced in this report, the President had stated on several occasions that Hawaii should be admitted at the earliest possible date. I might emphasize again the one paragraph of the Secretary's report, and that is that It is my sincere hope that consideration of the recommended amendments will not delay favorable action on statehood legislation. Hawaii's admission to the Union should not be impeded by prolonged discussion or controversy over the public-lands question. While the Department believes the public-lands amendment should be adopted its chief concern is that Hawaii be admitted to statehood at the earliest possible date. Therefore, should it appear likely that consideration of these amendments would block or prejudice favorable action on the bill, the Department will not press for their adoption. (NOTE. The amendments are as follows:) PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO H. R. 49 EIGHTY-FIRST CONGRESS 1. The evident intent of paragraph "Fourth" of section 3 is to protect the interest of the United States in all of the property to be ceded to or retained by the United States under the terms of section 4, whether title to that property is now vested in the United States or in the Territory of Hawaii. However, the language used is not entirely apt to accomplish this purpose, since mention is made only of lands set aside by Executive order of the President or the Governor, whereas some of the lands involved, such as Hawaii National Park, have been set aside by act of Congress. Furthermore, while the word "ceded," as used in this paragraph, is appropriate to cover the lands now in Territorial ownership, the word "retained" also needs to be used in order to cover adequately the lands now in Federal ownership. Accordingly, the following revision of lines 11 to 16, page 8, is suggested: "Fourth. That the property in the Territory of Hawaii set aside by Act of Congress or by Executive order of the President or the Governor of Hawaii for the use of the United States and remaining so set aside immediately prior to the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union shall be ceded to or retained by the United States, as more particularly provided in the next section of this Act." 2. For reasons similar to those discussed in connection with the preceding amendment, it is suggested that in line 1, page 9, after the word "by," the words "Act of Congress or by" be inserted. 3. Paragraph "Fifth" of section 3 provides for the retention of exclusive jurisdiction in the United States over lands now held by it for military, naval, or coast-guard purposes. This paragraph contains the customary saving clause reserving to the proposed new State the right to serve process within the area involved, but omits the equally customary saving clauses reserving the right of the State to tax private property and preserving the voting rights of the inhabitants within these areas. It is believed that this paragraph would be more consonant with the exclusive jurisdiction provisions applicable to other Federal reservations if the semicolon in line 9, page 9, were changed to a comma and the rest of line 9 and all of lines 10 and 11, page 9, were amended to read as follows: "and shall have the right to tax persons and corporations, their franchises and property, within the said tracts or parcels of land; and that persons now or hereafter residing on the said tracts or parcels of lands shall not be deprived thereby of the right to vote at all election held within the political subdivisions where they respectively reside." 4. In order to include in the bill standard provisions found in the enabling acts of States heretofore admitted, framed in such a way as to be consistent with whatever arrangements for the disposition of the public lands are included in section 4, the following new paragraph should be inserted between lines 17 and 18, page 10: "Eighth. That said State and its people do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to any lands or other property, including Hawaiian home lands, the title to which is retained in or ceded to the United States by the provisions of this Act, except insofar as provision may be contained in this Act for the transfer of any such lands or other property to said State; that until the title to such lands or other property is disposed of by the United States the same shall be and remain subject to the jurisdiction and control of the United States; that no taxes shall be imposed by said State upon any lands or other property belonging to or which may be hereafter acquired by the United States or reserved for its use; and that all provisions of this Act reserving rights or powers to the United States, as well as those prescribing the terms or conditions of the grants of lands or other property herein made to said State, are consented to fully by said State and its people." 5. To effectuate the recommendations in the accompanying report that the United States retain title to the public lands in Hawaii, the following changes are proposed: A. Subsection (b) of section 4, constituting lines 9 to 25, page 11, and lines 1 to 11, page 12, should be revised to read as follows: "(b) The United States and its instrumentalities, as the case may be, shall retain all the lands and other public property title to which is in the United States or an instrumentality thereof (including all lands and other property ceded to the United States by the Republic of Hawaii upon its annexation to the United States or acquired in exchange for the lands or other property so ceded), except as herein provided, and all such lands and other property shall remain and be the absolute property of the United States and its instrumentalities, as the case may be, subject to the laws heretofore or hereafter enacted by the Congress for the management and disposition of such lands: Provided, however, That any such lands or other property heretofore or hereafter set aside by Act of Congress or by Executive order of the President or the Governor of Hawaii, pursuant to law, for the use of the Territory of Hawaii or a political subdivision thereof (excluding lands or other property set aside merely as reserves for forest growth or conservation of water supply), whether absolutely or subject to limitations, and remaining so set aside immediately prior to the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union, shall be and become the property of the State of Hawaii or of such political subdivision, absolutely or subject to such limitations, as the case may be." B. New subsections (e) and (f) should be added to section 4 by inserting between lines 20 and 21, page 13, the following: "(e) Upon the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union, the lands and other public property of the United States within said State shall, subject to the other provisions of this Act, continue to be administered in accordance with the laws applicable thereto immediately prior to the admission of said State, until otherwise provided by the Congress: Provided, however, That all powers and duties conferred by such laws upon any officer of the Territory of Hawaii, with respect to any of such lands or other property except lands and property used in the administration of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, shall vest in the Secretary of the Interior and be administered, subject to his supervision and direction, in the Department of the Interior. Upon the application of the State of Hawaii, the said Secretary may, in his discretion, withdraw public lands within said State for administration as Hawaiian home lands and release Hawaiian home lands of equal value for administration as public lands. "(f) All moneys derived by the United States after the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union from the sale, lease, or other disposal of public lands, as that term is defined in section 73 (a) of the Hawaiian Organic Act (42 Stat. 116, 48 U. S. C., sec. 663), within the boundaries of said State shall, until otherwise provided by the Congress. be distributed as follows: (1) 371⁄2 per centum of the State of Hawaii to be used solely for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof, for educational and other public purposes, as the legislature of said State may direct; and (2) 622 per centum of the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury of the United States. The foregoing distribution shall be in lieu of any and all existing provisions of law, except as otherwise provided herein, authorizing the payment to, or retention by, the Territory of Hawaii of moneys derived from lands or other property belonging to the United States, and such provisions shall cease to be effective upon the admission of the State of Hawaii, except with respect to lands selected by, but not yet patented to, said State pursuant to this section, and except with respect to Hawaiian home lands as provided in section 3." C. The present subsection (e) beginning at line 21, page 13, should be relettered as subsection (g). 6. The reference in section 10 to the act of August 13, 1940 (54 Stat. 784, ch. 662), has been made obsolete by the act of June 25, 1948 (Public Law 773, 80th Cong.), which revised the Judicial Code and enacted into positive law title 28 of the United States Code. The act of August 13, 1940, has been superseded by section 91 of the new title 28, and has been specifically repealed by section 39 of the act of June 25, 1948. It is believed that section 10 should be recast by amending line 25, page 21, and lines 1 to 4, page 22, to read as follows: "That the district of Hawaii shall include, in addition to the State of Hawaii, the places named in Title 28, United States Code, section 91." 7. The references in section 14 to section 128 of the Judicial Code have likewise been made obsolete by the act of June 25, 1948 (Public Law 773, 80th Cong.), the provisions of the latter section having been superseded by section 1252 and sections 1291 to 1294 of the revised title 28 of the United States Code, and having been specifically repealed by section 39 of the cited act. It is believed that section 14 should be recast by amending lines 1 to 6, page 25, to read as follows: "Effective upon the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union- "(a) Title 28, United States Code, section 1252, is amended by excluding Hawaii from the application of the clause relating to courts of record; "(b) Title 28, United States Code, section 1293, is amended by striking out the words 'First and Ninth Circuits' and by inserting in lieu thereof 'First Circuit', and by striking out the words 'supreme courts of Puerto Rico and Hawaii, respectively' and inserting in lieu thereof 'supreme court of Puerto Rico'; and "(c) Title 28, United States Code, section 1294, is amended by striking out paragraph (5) thereof and by renumbering paragraph (6) as paragraph (5)." 8. Consistent with the evident intent of the bill to retain in permanent Federal ownership the lands and other property held by the United States within the authorized boundaries of Hawaii National Park, it is recommended that section 16 be amended by adding the following sentence at the end of line 5, page 26, of the bill: "Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect the ownership and control by the United States of any lands or other property within Hawaii National Park which may now belong to, or which may hereafter be acquired by, the United States." Mr. SILVERMAN. We have submitted a number of amendments. The amendments are similar to the amendments submitted by the Department for this committee's consideration at the last session. This committee, the full committee, and the House of Representatives saw fit not to adopt Interior's views on public lands, and instead had reported out a bill, and was passed by the House, which would take the public-lands question out of consideration in this enabling legislation and generally provides that after the enactment of this bill a joint committee of the Senate and House would be appointed and consider the public-lands question insofar as Hawaii was concerned, and that within a period of 5 years would make its recommendations to the Congress. Should it make no recommendations within 5 years, the public lands would revert to the State of Hawaii. Mr. REDDEN. That provision was in the legislation under consideration last Congress and in legislation now. Mr. SILVERMAN. That is right. That was the section that was adopted by the committee-by this committee at the last session, adopted by the full committee, and was voted upon by the House of Representatives. Mr. REDDEN. As I understand it, it is the view of the Department of Interior that while they would like to have these amendments considered and adopted they do not want those amendments to interfere with favorable action of the committee with respect to statehood for Alaska. Mr. SILVERMAN. That is right. We should like very much to see that the amendments are adopted, but of paramount consideration before the committee, before the Congress now, in which the Department has an interest, is the immediate enactment of H. R. 49. Mr. REDDEN. Thank you very much. Mr. Crawford do you have a question? Mr. CRAWFORD. This language, Mr. Silverman, which you just referred to, I think is found on page 11, subparagraph B? Mr. SILVERMAN. That is right. Mr. CRAWFORD. Of H. R. 49. Mr. SILVERMAN. That is right. Mr. CRAWFORD. How would it not be substantially in order for H. R. 49 to be reported and approved by the House and then if that had to be dealt with take it up with the other body? Mr. SILVERMAN. Well Mr. CRAWFORD. We have no control over them. In other words, what you want to impress us with is the idea of getting it through the House? Mr. SILVERMAN. We should like to get it through the House. As our position was stated, we would like to have the amendments adopted. However, this committee did go into a discussion of the public-lands question. We certainly should not like to engage this committee again into another public-lands controversy as did take place 2 years ago between the proponents and opponents on the public land question. Interior has a very important position on public lands to safeguard the public lands for the people of the United States and, for that reason, has submitted the amendments at this time similar to the amendments it submitted 2 years ago. However, as we state very clearly in our report, we should like very much to have this bill amended, but we would not want to do so at the expense of delaying or in any way jeopardizing the passage of this bill. Mr. REDDEN. Any further questions? (No response.) Mr. REDDEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Silverman. Is there anyone here representing the Department of Agriculture? (No response.) Mr. REDDEN. Anyone representing the National Military Establishments? (No response.) Mr. REDDEN. I believe these have statements in the record here that were given last year. I think they were notified to be here this year at this time. Is that right? The CLERK. Yes, sir. Mr. REDDEN. I understand that Mr. Fred Packard, of the National Park Service, has withdrawn his request to be heard here, and wishes to be heard in connection with Alaska. The CLERK. He has also withdrawn that request. The CLERK. Yes. Mr. REDDEN. He will be excused then. Is there any witness here from any department of the Government that desires to be heard now? If there is, I would like you to raise your hand. [No response.] We have a report from the Navy Department on behalf of the National Military Establishment, which will be inserted at this point: Hon. ANDREW L. SOMERS, Chairman, Committee on Public Lands, NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 3, 1949. House of Representatives. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Your request for comments on H. R. 49, a bill to enable the people of Hawaii to form a constitution and State government and to be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, has been assigned to this Department by the Secretary of Defense for the preparation of a report thereon expressing the views of the National Military Establishment. The purpose of the proposed bill is as stated in its title. While a large percentage of the residents of the Territory of Hawaii are of Japanese ancestry, the National Military Establishment is aware of no acts of sabotage committed against the Government of the United States by the Japanese residents of the islands or by any other inhabitants of foreign extractions during World War II. In view of this fact and since the people of Hawaii, including many persons of Japanese ancestry, served with distinction in the armed forces of the United States during World War II, it is not considered that enactment of the proposed legislation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States from a military standpoint. For the foregoing reasons the Navy Department, on behalf of the National Military Establishment, interposes no objection to the enactment of H. R. 49. This report has been coordinated within the National Military Establishment in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. The Navy Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that the objective of the proposed legislation is in accord with the program of the President. Sincerely yours, W. JOHN KENNEY, Acting. Is there any representative in the Congress who would like to be heard? Is there any other witness who would like to be heard, for or against this bill? (No response.) Mr. REDDEN. Mr. Farrington, do you have anything to say? STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH R. FARRINGTON, A DELEGATE IN CONGRESS FROM THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII Mr. FARRINGTON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to conclude the testimony, if this is the conclusion, with a brief statement. I want to point out to the members of this subcommittee that this series of documents, including the copies of five volumes of hearings I have on the desk before me, represents the consideration that has been given to the question of statehood for Hawaii since 1935. In 1935 a subcommittee of the House Committee on Territories went to Hawaii and made the report I hold in my hand, recommending an investigation by a joint committee. In 1937 a joint committee of Congress went to the Territory and obtained this testimony [indicating a record book] and recommended |