WASHINGTON, D.C. -- United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye announced today that the Senate approved the Fiscal Year 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill which includes $750,000 in Department of Interior's budget for the Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program (NHCAP) within the National Park Service's National Recreation and Preservation Program. The Fiscal Year 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill includes funding for the: Department of Transportation; Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary, and Related Agencies; Department of the Interior and Related Agencies; Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies; Department of Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government; Department of Agriculture; District of Columbia; and Foreign Operations.

"I am very pleased that the Congress recognized the importance of this program to preserve Native Hawaiian heritage. The Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program was created to provide a greater sense of cultural awareness and ethnic pride essential to the survival of the Native Hawaiian people," said Senator Inouye.

The NHCAP's present efforts are devoted to establishing cultural learning centers on each of the islands of Hawaii at sites of cultural and historic significance to Native Hawaiians. The centers' educational programs focus on Native Hawaiian traditions, arts and language, and serve to fulfill the NHCAP's mission to disseminate the cultural research that has been completed by the program. The centers will be required to develop public and private sector partners and a business plan to attain financial self-sufficiency. Currently three sites have been identified: the Hawaii Maritime Center on the Island of Oahu, and the Greenwell Botanical Center and Waipio Valley, both on the Island of Hawaii.

In addition to the cultural learning centers, the NHCAP continues to focus on the historical and cultural significance of Polynesian voyaging traditions. Long before western cultures mastered the seas, the ancient Polynesians deftly navigated the enormous expanse of the Pacific Ocean. This aspect of the program includes plans for future educational voyages tracking historical routes by ancient Pacific mariners, and the installation of the Hawaiiloa, the voyaging canoe built under cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, at Bishop Museum as the centerpiece of an interactive educational program.

The Fiscal Year 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill will now be transmitted to the White House.