have always had to rely on a separate bill for recognition because the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was never intended to be the means of providing recognition for Native Hawaiians – it literally only applies to the native people of the "continental United States." See 25 U.S.C. § 473; 25 C.F.R. § 83.3.... Rather than crack the "melting pot" that is Hawaii (an outcome opponents of S. 147 purport to fear), passage of S. 147 will finally give official and long overdue recognition to the losses Hawaiians have suffered – the blurring, if not diminution, of Hawaiians’ native identity; the erosion of their confidence as a people; the destruction of any semblance of self-determination and self-governance; and, as the United States Supreme Court put it, the loss of a "culture and way of life." Finally, Native Hawaiians will have restored to them what they lost more than a hundred years ago – status as a people and recognition of their roots. In a 2005 interview, Senator Akaka said that the bill, "creates a government-to-government relationship with the United States” as it provides a legal parity similar to that of native tribal governments in the contiguous states and Alaska. When the reporter commented that the bill could potentially lead to independence, Senator Akaka replied "that could be" but that it would be up to future generations to decide. Some who oppose the bill cite this statement as indicative of its potential support of secession of a Native Hawaiian government from the United States. However, the 2007 version of the bill has specified that secession is not a provision of the bill. In 2018, the United States Commission on Civil Rights released a report evaluating the federal government's efforts to meet its trust obligations to Native Americans and Native Hawaiians. Regarding Native Hawaiian sovereignty, it found:The federal government does not have an official government-to-government relationship with the Native Hawaiian community. However, Congress has acknowledged the role of the United States in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the annexation of Hawaii without the consent or compensation of Native Hawaiians. Congress has passed over 150 laws that promote the welfare of Native Hawaiians and establish a special political and legal relationship with the Native Hawaiian community similar to the trust relationship between the United States and Native Americans. In 2016, the federal government finalized an administrative rule that allows a