REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO RETURN TO THE STATE ALL RECREATIONAL FACILITIES ON HAWAII PUBLIC LANDS THAT ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING FORT DERUSSY AND THE HALE KOA HOTEL, PURSUANT TO THE HAWAII ADMISSION ACT, AND AS FURTHER REQUIRED BY PUBLIC LAW 88-233.

HCR199

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

199

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Requesting the President of the united states to return
to the State all recreational facilities on Hawaii public lands that are no
longer required for the defense of the United States, including Fort DeRussy
and the Hale Koa Hotel, pursuant to the Hawaii Admission Act, and as further
required by Public Law 88-233
.

����
WHEREAS, the
Hale Koa Hotel is an eight-hundred-seventeen-room United States Armed Forces recreation
center resort occupying nine acres of prime Waikiki beachfront within the
seventy-two-acre Fort DeRussy Military Reservation, operating as a commercial
hospitality enterprise that competes directly with the State's visitor industry
while paying no transient accommodations tax, no general excise tax, no
property tax, and no rent to the State of Hawaii or to the public land trust, and
sitting on former crown and government lands that the federal government has no
legitimate need to retain for military defense; and

����
WHEREAS, the
lands now known as Fort DeRussy, part of the Kalia district of Waikiki, were historically
a landscape of rivers, taro patches, fishponds, and freshwater springs and were
acquired by the United States War Department through General Order 20 in 1906
for a military reservation, initially designated the Kalia Military Reservation
and renamed Fort DeRussy in 1909; and

����
WHEREAS, Territorial
Governor Lucius E. Pinkham issued executive orders in 1911, 1917, and 1918,
which set aside these crown and government lands for federal military use,
after which the Army destroyed the fishponds and wetlands by continuously
pumping dredged ocean fill for nearly one year; and

����
WHEREAS, Battery
Randolph was constructed between 1909 and 1911 as part of the coastal defense
of Honolulu Harbor and was equipped with two fourteen-inch guns that were the
largest in the Pacific; and

����
WHEREAS, those
guns never fired a shot in defense, because their fourteen-mile range had been
rendered obsolete by the eighteen-mile accuracy of enemy warships by 1941; and

����
WHEREAS, the
Army itself acknowledged this obsolescence by redesignating Fort DeRussy as a rest
and recuperation center in June 1942, placing the batteries on standby status
in 1943, declaring the guns surplus in 1944, decommissioning the guns by 1946 razing
the fort's Battery Dudley to the ground in 1969, and disbanding the Coastal
Artillery Corps in 1950; and

����
WHEREAS, notwithstanding
this record, Army Secretary Wilber M. Brucker designated Fort DeRussy a "permanent
installation" in 1956, an administrative label that carries no legal
weight under the Admission Act; and

����
WHEREAS, in
1975, the Department of Defense constructed the Hale Koa Hotel, a fifteen-story
resort, on nine of the beachfront acres; and the fort's entire history since
1942 has consisted exclusively of recreation, lodging, museum operation, and
administrative education, none of which constitutes a military defense purpose
sufficient to justify the continued retention of these former crown and
government lands under section 5(e) of the Admission Act,
P.L. 86-3
; and

����
WHEREAS, the
Heritage Foundation, in a 1982 report titled "Surplus Federal Property: It's
Time to Sell," identified Fort DeRussy by name as surplus federal
property, noting that, of its seventy-two acres, seventeen beachfront acres
were "currently unused" and were valued at approximately $13,000,000
per acre at 1982 prices; and

����
WHEREAS, Fort
DeRussy is part of 432,725.91 acres of crown and government lands seized by the
federal government between 1900 and 1959, as documented by the Legislative
Reference Bureau's 1969 report, "Public Land Policy In Hawaii: An
Historical Analysis"; and

����
WHEREAS, federal
law provides for the return of Hawaii's lands to the public land trust, via
section 5(e) of the Admission Act of 1959,
P.L. 86-3
, which specifies that
each federal agency having control over retained crown and government lands shall
report to the President of the United States (President) regarding its
continued need for such lands, and if the President determines the lands are no
longer needed by the United States, they shall be conveyed to the State of
Hawaii; and via Public Law 88-233, enacted by Congress in December 1963, which
ensured that the return mechanism would continue to operate beyond the original
five-year deadline; and

����
WHEREAS, United
States Senator Daniel K. Inouye, testifying in the 1963 Senate Subcommittee on
Public Lands hearings leading to the passage of Public Law 88-233, said that "[t]hese
lands were held in trust by the federal government for the people of Hawaii,
with the eventual hope that they would be returned, when federal need was not
present[,]" Senator Inouye also argued that even lands declared surplus
after the five-year deadline should be returned at no cost because "[w]e
feel this is not equitable, and I do not think this was within the intent of
the Members of Congress"; and

����
WHEREAS, Senator
Hiram L. Fong, testifying at the same 1963 hearing, spoke directly to the
injustice of the federal government's retention of Hawaii's lands, stating
"Justice is on our side.
�
We are
asking for the return of lands not needed by the federal government--lands that
represent a tiny fraction compared with the 1,275,000 acres the Territory of
Hawaii gave to the federal government without cost at annexation," and
further noting "As against 1,600 acres Hawaii gave free of charge to the
federal government 410,000 [at Statehood].
�
Surely Congress did intend to compensate
Hawaii for these acres"; and

����
WHEREAS, Kermit
Gordon, then Director of the United States Bureau of the Budget, confirmed the
validity of Hawaii's claim in 1963 correspondence to Vice-President Lyndon
Johnson, stating "We believe that Hawaii has a unique claim on the lands
and property involved since they were originally given to the United States by
the Republic or Territory of Hawaii.
�
That
claim and the special status of those lands and property have been recognized
by the United States for many years"; and

����
WHEREAS, the
federal portfolio includes substantial lands not used for national defense
purposes, but rather for hotels, short-term vacation rentals, golf courses,
marinas, and beach resorts operated exclusively for the recreation of
military-affiliated patrons, and that should rightfully be available for the
wellness and recreation of all the people of Hawaii, including lands comprising
the Hale Koa Hotel; the Bellows Air Force Station recreational area in Waimanalo,
which occupies a pristine stretch of windward Oahu coastline with one hundred
seventeen lodging units, including beachfront cabins, condominiums, and
campsites; the Pililaau Army Recreation Center in Waianae, which includes
cottages at Pokai; the Barbers Point beach cottages at Kalaeloa; the
recreational beach cottages, cabanas, Klipper Villas, and golf course on a
Native Hawaiian burial site at Mokapu; the Kilauea Military Camp, a ninety-two‑unit
lodge and cottage complex within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island
of Hawaii; the Barbers Point Golf Course at Kalaeloa; the Leilehua Golf Course
in Wahiawa; the Mamala Bay Golf Course at Keehi; the marina at Ke Awalau o
Puuloa; and all associated Morale, Welfare and Recreation facilities across
every major island, all of which operate on former crown and government lands
for the exclusive benefit of a restricted class of patrons rather than for the
people of Hawaii as a whole, and none of which are essential for the defense of
the United States; and

����
WHEREAS, the
federal government has used, occupied, and controlled crown and government
lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom for military and non-military purposes since 1900
without paying fair market rent to the Territory or State of Hawaii; without
contributing any revenue to the public land trust established under section
5(f) of the Admission Act,
P.L. 86-3
; and without making any payment to
the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for the benefit of Native Hawaiians; and

����
WHEREAS, established
principles of federal and state law support the conclusion that the
uncompensated federal retention and use of crown and government lands
constitutes a compensable taking and breach of trust; and

����
WHEREAS, the
United States Supreme Court held in
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
,
448 U.S. 371 (1980), that the federal government's seizure of indigenous lands
without adequate consideration constitutes a Fifth Amendment taking requiring
just compensation, and awarded compensation with interest compounded from the
date of the original dispossession; and

����
WHEREAS, the
Supreme Court held in
Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp.
, 458
U.S. 419 (1982), and reaffirmed in
Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid
, 594
U.S. 139 (2021), that a permanent physical occupation of property by or at the
direction of the government constitutes a per se taking regardless of the
public benefit conferred; and

����
WHEREAS, the
Hawaii Supreme Court held in
Ahuna v. Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
,
64 Haw. 327 (1982), that the State's obligations to Native Hawaiian trust
beneficiaries constitutes a fiduciary duty of the highest order; and

����
WHEREAS, the
Hawaii Supreme Court held in
Office of Hawaiian Affairs v. Housing and
Community Development Corporation of Hawaii
, 117 Haw. 174 (2008), that
Native Hawaiians possess unrelinquished claims to the ceded lands and that the
State has a fiduciary duty not to alienate those lands until such claims are
resolved, an analysis that the United States Supreme Court in
Hawaii v.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
, 556 U.S. 163 (2009), reversed only on the
narrow question of the 1993 Apology Resolution's operative legal effect while
leaving the underlying state-law trust obligations undisturbed; and

����
WHEREAS, the
Legislature finds that these authorities, taken together, establish that the
federal government's permanent physical occupation of former crown and
government lands for purposes unrelated to military defense--lands impressed
with a trust for the benefit of the inhabitants of Hawaii since at least the
Joint Resolution of Annexation of 1898 and formalized under section 5(f) of the
Admission Act,
P.L. 86-3
--without payment of fair market rent to the
public land trust or to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs constitutes both a per
se taking under the Fifth Amendment and a continuing breach of the fiduciary
obligations recognized by Congress, the Hawaii State Constitution, and the
courts of this State; and

����
WHEREAS, the
State of Hawaii has a fiduciary obligation to its citizens, and particularly to
Native Hawaiians as named beneficiaries of the public land trust, to pursue all
lawful means to recover former crown and government lands that are no longer
being used for the purposes for which they were retained and to seek fair
compensation for the uncompensated use of those lands; and the Legislature
seeks the return of all lands no longer needed for legitimate military
purposes, beginning with the Hale Koa Hotel; now, therefore,

����
BE IT
RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the
State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the Senate concurring, that the
President of the United States is requested to determine that federal recreational
facilities on Hawaii public lands, including Fort DeRussy and the Hale Koa
Hotel, are no longer required for the defense of the United States, pursuant to
the Admission Act,
P.L. 86-3
, and as further required by Public Law
88-233; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the President is requested to order the immediate conveyance of
these public lands to the State of Hawaii; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Legislature believes and declares that the continued federal
retention of the Hale Koa Hotel, Fort DeRussy lands, and other non-defense
recreational and leisure facilities does not constitute a legitimate federal
need sufficient to justify withholding these former crown and government lands from
the public land trust; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Legislature requests the President to direct a comprehensive
review of all federally retained lands in the State of Hawaii, including but
not limited to the set aside lands and all lands under sixty-five-year leases
executed in 1964 at the nominal charge of one dollar per lease, to determine
which lands are no longer needed for legitimate military defense purposes and
should be immediately returned to the State, as contemplated by the framers of
the Admission Act and as advocated by Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Senator Hiram
L. Fong, and Governor John A. Burns; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Legislature declares, consistent with the testimony of
Senator Daniel K. Inouye, that the lands retained by the federal government
were held in trust for the people of Hawaii with the expectation that they
would be returned when no longer needed, and that federal agencies have a
continuing obligation to report on their need for such lands and to release
those lands that are no longer necessary for the defense of the United States;
and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Legislature declares, consistent with the testimony of
Senator Hiram L. Fong, that at annexation the federal government took
approximately 1,800,000 acres of crown and government lands, that the Territory
further gave to the federal government an additional 410,000 acres at statehood,
and that the law requires the return of all lands no longer serving a
legitimate military purpose; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that upon conveyance, all lands comprising Fort DeRussy Military
Reservation and any other returned federal lands shall be incorporated into the
public land trust established under section 5(f) of the Admission Act and
Article XII, section 4 of the Hawaii State Constitution, and shall be managed
and administered in accordance with the five trust purposes enumerated therein;
and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the State of Hawaii, in partnership with the Office of Hawaiian
Affairs, shall develop a comprehensive land use plan for the returned Fort
DeRussy lands that prioritizes cultural restoration of the Kalia district and
the healing site of Kawehewehe, public access to the shoreline, revenue
generation for public land trust beneficiaries, and the betterment of the
conditions of Native Hawaiians; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Governor is requested to engage the Hawaii Congressional
delegation, the United States Department of Defense, the United States
Department of the Interior, and the Office of Management and Budget to
facilitate the expeditious return of the Fort DeRussy lands and all other
unneeded federal lands to the State; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii is requested to
evaluate all available legal avenues, including but not limited to litigation
under the Admission Act, Public Law 88-233, federal land transfer statutes, and
applicable trust law, to compel the return of the Fort DeRussy lands and other
unneeded federal lands if the federal government fails to act voluntarily; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Public Land Trust Working Group is requested to agendize and
request legislative funding for a comprehensive independent appraisal of all
federally-occupied crown and government lands to determine the precise fair
market rental value, both current and cumulative, owed to the State and to the
public land trust, and to transmit the results of the resulting appraisal to
the Legislature, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Hawaii congressional
delegation no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular
Session of 2027; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Legislature recognizes and honors the service of the men and
women of the United States Armed Forces, and that nothing in this measure is
intended to diminish the contributions of military service members, but rather
to assert the rightful claims of the people of Hawaii to lands that are no
longer serving a military defense purpose, consistent with the clear intent of
the Admission Act and the bipartisan consensus expressed by Hawaii's leaders
across party lines since statehood; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the
President of the United States, Attorney General of the United States, Secretary
of Defense, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Army, Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, Governor,
Attorney General, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and
Director of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

President;
DOD; DOW; Governor; AG; OHA; BLNR; Public Lands; Return; Fort DeRussy; Hale Koa
Hotel; Recreational Facilities; Admission Act; Ceded Lands; Crown Lands