Off-Reservation
Gambling Stirs Up Dispute
In an unusually sharp rebuke,
a House committee chairman on Wednesday accused
an Interior Department official of making misleading
statements about the increase of Indian casinos
in communities that are not on reservations.
Rep.
Richard Pombo, R- Calif., cut off George Skibine,
an acting deputy assistant interior secretary,
when Skibine said the department has approved
only three applications for off-reservation
gambling under a procedure called the two-part
determination.
"We
have established that nearly 10 percent of the
(Indian) casinos operating today are operating
on land that was not in trust (or on tribal
land) as of 1988," said Pombo, the chairman
of the House Resources Committee.
"To
continue to go back to your figure of three
is an inaccurate and misleading statement,"
Pombo told Skibine.
Pombo
grilled Skibine about testimony he gave last
month to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
in which he said off-reservation gambling "historically
... really hasn't been a problem."
Skibine
explained he was referring to the two-part determination,
which requires approval by the interior secretary
and the governor of a state where a tribe plans
to build a casino that is not connected to their
reservation.
Skibine
acknowledged there are other exceptions in the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 that allow
tribes to seek off-reservation land for gambling.
Of
the 405 Indian casinos operating in the United
States, 38 of them are on land that was not
owned by tribes when the Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act was enacted in October 1988, Pombo said.
Pombo
introduced legislation last week that would
crack down on off-reservation gambling. Among
other things, Pombo's bill would:
-
Repeal the two-part determination.
-
Prohibit tribes from crossing state lines to
set up gambling facilities in other states.
Sen.
John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee, has introduced similar legislation
in the Senate, and McCain's bill is expected
to be voted on by the committee later this month.
Although
Skibine acknowledged pending applications for
off-reservation casinos could become a problem,
Pombo chided him for underestimating the scope
of the problem.
"Your
number of 23 (pending applications) would not
include the plans by the Eastern Shawnee to
open up to eight casinos in the state of Ohio;
the five potential casinos in the Catskills
in New York; the three proposals for casinos
in Illinois; the three casino proposals in Nebraska;
the casino proposal for Fort Smith, Arkansas;
the casino proposal for Fort Payne, Alabama
or the casino proposal for up to 40,000 slot
machines across the river from the city of Philadelphia,
does it?" Pombo asked Skibine.
"That's
correct," Skibine said.
Rep.
Jim Costa, D-Calif., noted there are 103 recognized
tribes in California. Costa said many of them
are landless, and likely to seek land for casinos
"It's
'Let's make a deal' time," Costa said.
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