Democratic Hill staffers head to Maui on taxpayers’ dime for Senate Indian Affairs Committee field hearing
by Matthew Boyle - The Daily Caller
Senate Democrats are charging taxpayers for a trip to Hawaii, The Daily Caller has learned. The entire press staff of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is in Maui, even though a field hearing there won’t happen until next Wednesday.
The committee’s oversight field hearing, scheduled for August 17 at 9:00 a.m. at the Maui Beach Hotel, will focus on “Strengthening Self-Sufficiency: Overcoming Barriers to Economic Development in Native Communities.”
Rick Manning from Americans for Limited Government, which first discovered the hearing, told TheDC it’s unbelievable that Hill staffers talking about fiscal responsibility would waste money on a trip to Maui.
“It’s outrageous that Senate Democrats have so little respect for the American taxpayer that in the same month they buried our credit rating, they’re heading to Hawaii to celebrate,” Manning said.
A committee staffer told TheDC that the reason the hearing will be in Maui is “mostly because it’s his [committee chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka’s] home state.” It’s unclear if the field hearing will focus on any issues relating at all to Hawaii, or if the reasoning for scheduling the trip there is only because Akaka will already be in Hawaii during the congressional recess.
The staffer said Akaka is the only senator who will attend.
The Democratic committee staffers used taxpayer funding to travel to Hawaii a full week before their committee’s hearing date. When TheDC called the committee’s Washington, D.C., office Thursday afternoon, a different staffer who answered the phone said all the committee’s communications staffers are already in Maui….
read … Democratic Hill staffers head to Maui on taxpayers’ dime
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Hmmmmm... OHA Trustees to meet on Maui August 17-18
Hmmmmm... August 23rd through August 25th in Honolulu, 10th Annual CNHA Conference
CNHA Conf: 500 OHA cronies seeking Free Money
Hawaii's congressional delegates, the governor and officials with the Obama White House Initiative on Pacific Islanders are among those expected to attend.
Issues to be discussed include cultural preservation, education, housing, economic development, and self-determination.
read … 500 register
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NRD: Senate Committee Off to Maui on Taxpayer-funded Trip!
Here are the details:
OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING on “Strengthening Self-Sufficiency: Overcoming Barriers to Economic Development in Native Communities”
Wednesday, August 17 2011
9:00AM
Maui Beach Hotel 170 Kaahumanu Avenue Kahului, HI 96732
Description:
Witnesses
Panel # 0
Mr. Jack Stevens
Chief of the Division of Economic Development
Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
Ms. Michelle Kauhane
Deputy Director
State of Hawaii, Department of Hawaii Home Lands, Honolulu, HI
Panel # 1
Mr. Brian Patterson
President
United South and Eastern Tribes, Nashville, TN
Ms. Robin Danner
President/CEO
Council for Native American Advancement, Honolulu, HI
Panel # 2
The Honorable Nathan Small
Chairman
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Fort Hall, ID
The Honorable W. Ron Allen
Tribal Chair
Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Sequim, WA
Mr. Michael Hudson
Operations Manager
Wow Farm, Inc., Kamuela, HI
And here’s where it’s being held: http://www.mauibeachhotel.net/hotel_overview.htm