The changes proposed by the amendment would:

• Leave negotiations on claims made by Native Hawaiians against the United States and the state in the hands of a federally recognized Hawaiian governing entity. Individuals and organizations, including the governing entity, would not have the legal basis to file such claims in court.
• Clarify that gambling would not be allowed on lands under the jurisdiction of the Native Hawaiian government entity unless approved by the state and federal governments.
• Exempt the Department of Defense from participating in discussions and negotiations dealing with the creation of the Native Hawaiian governing entity, effectively ensuring military installations and operations are not affected in any way.
• Make clear that the state and federal governments would retain existing civil and criminal jurisdiction over all lands and people in Hawai'i.

A fact sheet distributed by Akaka said that "the (Bush) administration sought to extinguish all existing claims by Native Hawaiians related to breach of trust, land claims and resource-management or resource-protection claims."

The Hawai'i delegation and Gov. Linda Lingle "prevailed in preventing the extinguishment of claims," the fact sheet said.

Jon Osorio, director of the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, echoed the comments of Perez and said he believes that the bill waters down a measure that already does not go far enough in addressing any harms that may have been committed against Hawaiians by the U.S. government.

"What it looks like to me is because the U.S. government is claiming sovereign immunity that cannot be challenged in court, and the state also has this protection, it means that virtually everything that will become part of this nation, land and resources, are things that are going to be negotiated at the outset," Osorio said.

"What they're saying is everything is not subject to the courts. And because the U.S. is acknowledging a single government entity, in my mind, this is intended to invalidate any future claims by anyone."