The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights yesterday filled vacancies on its Hawai'i advisory committee, choosing several outspoken activists against a Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill and potentially shifting the committee's ideological balance.

The commission itself is on record against the bill, known as the Akaka bill for its sponsor, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, but the Hawai'i advisory committee has favored federal recognition.

The commission voted on 14 new members to the 17-member advisory committee, including Michael Lilly, a former state attorney general, and Amy Agbayani, a former chairwoman of the Hawai'i Civil Rights Commission. The vote was 6-2 in favor of the new members.

The commission, dominated by Republicans and independents, also chose some of the most visible opponents of federal recognition.

The selections include H. William Burgess, an attorney and activist with Aloha for All, which has fought federal recognition and Hawaiian-only government programs; Paul Sullivan, an attorney who has written against federal recognition; James Kuroiwa, a Republican labor and business-relations activist who joined a lawsuit against government funding for Hawaiian-only programs; Rubellite Johnson, a Hawaiian language scholar who opposes the Akaka bill; and Tom MacDonald, a retired investment executive who is on the board of scholars of the Grassroot Institute of Hawai'i, a libertarian public-policy group that has philosophically and financially led the Akaka bill opposition.

Lilly, a Republican who served as attorney general under former Gov. George Ariyoshi, a Democrat, was nominated the committee's chairman. He said the committee's mission is to advance civil rights in the Islands and would not have a partisan agenda. The new committee is made up of seven Democrats, seven Republicans and three independents.

"I feel I bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans," said Lilly, an attorney who has been active on cases dealing with access for people with disabilities. He said he has not taken a position on the Akaka bill.

But several people who support the Akaka bill have been worried about the ideological balance of the committee since the nominations were made public earlier this year.

"There will be quite strong philosophical differences that I will have with several people on the committee," said Agbayani, director of the Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity program at University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

Clyde Namu'o, the administrator of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said none of OHA's recommendations for membership were chosen by the commission. He said the danger, politically, is if the advisory committee takes a position against the Akaka bill and it strengthens the opposition nationally.

The Akaka bill, which has been blocked by conservative Republicans since 2000, would recognize Native Hawaiians as indigenous people with the right to self-government. The bill has been a federal priority of Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican, and the Democrats in the state's congressional delegation.

"Looking at the new makeup of the committee, I don't think they're going to be sympathetic to the Akaka bill," Namu'o said.

U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, yesterday issued a statement with concerns about the committee's new composition. "I am concerned that the group does not appear to reflect the position of the majority of the people of Hawai'i on one of the most important issues facing our state, namely the Akaka bill," the congresswoman said.

Michael Yaki, a San Francisco attorney and Democrat on the commission who voted against the nominations, said Republicans were trying to stack the advisory committee with Akaka bill opponents. "It's a sad day for Native Hawaiians," Yaki said. "It's a sad day for civil rights."

But others said the new members would bring different viewpoints.

"I don't think this committee was intended to come up with one view," Sullivan said. "If they get a broad spectrum of views, the committee will do what it is supposed to do."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.