At a recent meeting of Hawaiian independence proponents Richard Kamahele Figueroa, Director of the Kingdom of Hawaii National Election Office, took issue with the Akaka Bill now pending in the U.S. Congress and with the State of Hawaii's Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). Mr Figueroa noted " The Akaka bill puts Native Hawaiians under the supervision of the U.S. Department of the Interior just as if we are an American Indian Tribe and we all know what a disaster that has been for the American Indians--unkept promises, poverty and the inevitable loss of national identity".