DoJ memo on the Akaka Bill seeks exemption for the military

The  Department of Justice legal memo on the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 (Akaka Bill) includes this choice passage that helps to explain what I believe to be one of the major underlying reasons for the proposed legislation – extinguishing any Hawaiian claims that could threaten the military’s control of land in Hawai’i. Notice that the memo names the Stryker Brigade lawsuit as an example of Hawaiian “interference”:

Second, S. 147 should be amended to make clear that the consultation process contemplated in sections 5(b) and 6(d) may not be applied so as to interfere in any way with the operations of U.S. military facilities on Hawaii or otherwise affect military readiness. The potential for such interference is well illustrated by litigation currently pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ilioulaokalani Coalition v. Rumsfeld) challenging a proposed base expansion.