Tribes
speak out against McCain's gaming bill
As
Reported by indianz.com
Tribal
leaders plan to send a letter to the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee to formalize their opposition to a proposed
overhaul of the $20 billion tribal casino industry.
At
a meeting organized by the National Indian Gaming Association
and the National Congress of American Indians, tribal
leaders said a bill introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona),
the chairman of the committee, threatens their rights.
They criticized provisions that would limit off-reservation
gaming, impose additional bureaucratic rules on casinos
and subject tribes to reviews of their daily business
activities.
"Sovereignty
is an inherent right of Indian tribes, and cannot be compromised
without compromising our very existence as Indian people,"
Stanley Crooks, chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community, the Minnesota tribe that hosted the meeting
on Tuesday.
Ernie
Stevens, the chairman of NIGA, said the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act of 1988 doesn't need to be amended. He
called S.2078, the bill introduced by McCain last November,
"a disappointing reminder that some people think
we've gained too much ground."
"Who
else in American society is forced to defend their right
to be successful?" Stevens said.
Despite
the opposition coming from Indian Country, McCain isn't
likely to hold back his proposal. At a business committee
meeting next Wednesday, he plans to call a vote on his
amendments to IGRA regardless of what tribes think.
"Any
legislation that's 18 years old clearly needs a review,"
McCain said at a March 8 hearing. "Second of all,
any operation that started from half a billion dollars
to $20 billion a year, and continuing to go up, obviously
needs to be scrutinized and looked at. Things have changed
since 1988."
At
the hearing, McCain indicated he was willing to accept
compromise on one section of the bill that would give
the National Indian Gaming Commission more power to review
all gaming and gaming-related contracts. NIGC Chairman
Phil Hogen and tribal leaders say the language, as currently
drafted, would hinder tribes as they go about their daily
business.
"Of
the multitude of contracts tribal gaming operations enter
into for their day-to-day operations, only a small minority
are directly related to the conduct of the gaming activity,"
Hogen said,warning of a "bureaucratic bottleneck"
that could be created by passage of the bill.
But
McCain wasn't budging on another section of the measure
that would ensure the NIGC has the authority to regulate
Class III gaming. A federal judge ruled that IGRA left
that role to tribes and states, through the compacting
process, but McCain disagrees with the decision.
And
McCain hasn't swayed from his view that off-reservation
casino proposals have created a "backlash" against
Indian gaming. His bill would make it harder for tribes
to engage in gaming on land taken into trust after 1988,
the year IGRA was first passed.
The
disconnect between McCain, a longtime advocate for tribal
sovereignty, and Indian Country has grown ever since he
took over the Indian Affairs Committee in January 2005.
Of the nearly 30 hearings he has held in Washington since
February 2005, half of them have dealt with the Jack Abramoff
scandal, gaming and the closely tied federal recognition
and land-into-trust processes, topics that have painted
tribes in a negative light.
The
rift was highlighted at the March 8 hearing, when a tribal
leader questioned McCain's agenda. Ron His Horse Is Thunder,
the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said the
bill was motivated by negative press coverage, anti-Indian
groups and the fallout from the Abramoff scandal, comments
that brought a rebuke by McCain.
"We're
too far apart in our views of what this committee is trying
to do in the 20-some years I've been involved on behalf
of Native Americans," McCain said. Sen. Byron Dorgan
(D-North Dakota), the vice chairman of the committee,
said he agreed with McCain's sentiments.
Since
IGRA was passed in 1988, a year after the U.S. Supreme
Court upheld the inherent right of tribes to engage in
gaming, there have been no major amendments to the law.
In recent years, state governments have lobbied against
provisions that would prevent them from taking a share
in gaming revenues and limit their regulation of on-reservation
activities.
Tribes
have fought certain changes as well, citing threats to
their sovereignty and economies. The conflicting views
have made it extremely difficult for Congress to enact
any changes to IGRA.
By
making gaming a top priority of the committee, McCain
hopes this year will be different. He has cited an obligation
to protect non-Indians who gamble at tribal casinos, controversy
over off-reservation gaming and the growth of the industry
in his campaign to overhaul IGRA.
New
Tinian casino MOA signed
As
Reported by Saipan Tribune
Tinian
- The Fitial administration signed last week a memorandum
of agreement with Baltimore-based Cordish Company for
a $200-million casino and golf course project on Tinian.
Gov.
Benigno R. Fitial said the agreement was signed Tuesday.
Cordish
Company is the second casino MOA signed by the administration.
It
earlier signed an agreement with Marianas Resort Development
Co. Inc., which plans to build a $170-million casino and
golf course project on Tinian.
Fitial
said Friday that MRDC will break ground on Tuesday.
Under
the casino law, Tinian can issue up to five casino licenses.
Right
now, only one operator has the license, Tinian
Dynasty Hotel & Casino, which began its operations
in 1998.
The
Fitial administration said all five slots are essentially
taken now.
Aside
from MRDC and Cordish Company, the administration said
it has found another company that could take the final
casino license being granted by the Tinian Casino and
Gaming Commission.
Last
year, Bridge Investment Group, received a conditional
license to set up its proposed $150-million to $200-million
hotel casino.
The
project includes the construction of a 300-room hotel
casino, with 100 full suites and 200 junior suites, four
full-service restaurants, a spa, wedding chapel, shopping
arcade, and a convention facility that will accommodate
600 people.
The
project also includes the construction of an 18-hole championship
golf course, the first on the island of Tinian.
Construction
of luxury bungalows and additional rooms at the hotel
casino are also planned as expansion projects.
Meantime,
TDHC remains confident that it can compete with the new
investors.
It
said that it would also benefit from new investments as
these enhance the island as a tourist destination.