St. Regis Mohawk Council Responds to House Vote

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council issued the following statement today after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to reject H.R. 4893, a bill to amend Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) to restrict off reservation Indian gaming.

"This bill set a dangerous precedent by undermining tribal sovereignty. The bill would also have stripped state governors of authority to enter into agreements with Indian tribes and nullified New York State Legislation on Indian gaming. We are pleased that the House of Representatives voted to reject it," said Tribal Chief James W. Ransom. "22 out of 29 members of our New York Delegation voted against this bill, and Governor Pataki also assisted in opposing the measure. We applaud this strong demonstration of solidarity from New York."

"For the nearly a decade, our Tribe has been working with the State and the local communities in Sullivan County to develop a gaming facility in the economically depressed Catskills region as a result of broad based pleas from the public to restore the area," said Tribal Chief Lorraine White. "This bill would severely undermine the broad public endorsement from the State of New York and our Tribe's efforts to ensure our communities are adequately provided for."

"While we recognize the concerns of Mr. Pombo and others with controversial off-reservation proposals in other parts of the country, this legislation is not the appropriate vehicle to address these issues," said Tribal Chief Barbara Lazore. "We believe the Department of the Interior should be first given the opportunity to issue regulations that ensure states, local governments and tribes have an opportunity to impact the process rather than moving forward with the drastic step of amending the IGRA."

House Resolution 4893, titled Restricting Indian Gaming to Homelands of Tribes ("RIGHT") Act (H.R. 4893), to amend section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to restrict off-reservation gaming, was sponsored by Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Nick Rahall (R-WV). A 2/3rds vote (290 yea votes) was required to pass the bill. The final vote was 247 YEAs, 171 NAYs, and 15 not voting. Of the New York Delegation, 22 opp

2006-09-14