Dear Governor Lingle:
I challenge you or a designate, including the distinguished Attorney General Mark Bennett, to a public debate addressing the Akaka bill.
I understand the Hawaii State Capitol Auditorium is available Saturday July 23, 2005, 9-11 AM and Tuesday, July 26, 2005, 9-11 AM.
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, in the interest of
healthy public discourse, recommends that the debate be under the auspices of the Hawaii
League of Women Voters and with a reputable moderator, perhaps your former Senior
Policy Advisor, Professor Randy Roth.
The time and place of the debate would be of
your choosing. If the suggested time and place are not convenient for you, Attorney
General Bennett or your other designate, we will adjust to your requirements, within the
last two weeks of July.
The pending legislation for both the residents of Hawaii and the entire United
States is too important to be left to uninformed views, whether by voters or officeholders.
In the June 24, 2005 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser, you assail critics of the bill
as wrongfully suggesting that if a Native Hawaiian sovereignty was erected, then Native
Hawaiians would escape application of laws of the United States, such as the United
States Constitution.
You are quoted as follows: