Indianz.Com 9/14/2018
A bipartisan bill to recognize the sovereign rights of the two tribes whose casinos are being threatened in Texas has the support of the Trump administration.
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, also known as the Tigua Tribe, could be forced to shut down their Class II facilities due to ongoing litigation. Passage of H.R.4985, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Settlement Act, would protect them and confirm that they can participate in the $32 billion Indian gaming industry just like their fellow sovereign nations.
"This bill is not asking for anything special or out of the ordinary," Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), the sponsor of H.R.4985, said at a legislative hearing on Thursday.
"In fact, it would simply ensure that the Alabama-Coushatta, as well as the Tiguas, receive the same treatment that the federal government extends to other tribes," he said.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs agrees with that assessment. Darryl LaCounte, the "acting" director of the agency, said the Trump administration believes Congress should clarify the sovereign rights of the two tribes by amending a federal law that has been the subject of litigation for nearly two decades.
"An amendment is important because it would restore the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo to the same footing as other federally recognized Indian tribes in the United States," LaCounte told the House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs at the hearing.
Leaders of the tribes testified of the need to keep the operations open in light of the litigation. Chairwoman Jo Ann Battise of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe said Naskila Gaming has helped improve economic, housing, health and other conditions in area near Houston where nearly a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line.
"This is something that the tribe needed for a very long time," Battise said. "What we have done for ourselves is brought forward projects and plans that had been put on the back burner, because we did not have the resources to do anything about it back then. We do now."
More:
https://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2018/09/14/trump-administration-supports-sovereignty.asp
