Column: McCain headed down wrong path on IGRA

Tuesday, July 5, 2005  

"Rapid-growth industries always make the headlines, and Indian gaming - which reaped more than $18 billion in 2004 - is no exception. On June 28, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs was slated to hold an oversight hearing on regulation of the Indian gaming industry. While a periodic examination of regulatory practices over this or any other business sector is not necessarily a bad thing, submitting to irrational hysteria always is.

Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., for some reason seems to think that the tribal casinos are a scandal waiting to happen. The senator has introduced legislation to raise the fees that tribal governments must pay to the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), the federal regulatory agency. The June 27 Arizona Republic quoted him asking rhetorically: ''Do we protect the patrons of Indian gaming to the fullest extent?''

Questioning the integrity of Indian gaming, now that the industry has grown to such unexpected levels so quickly, is en vogue. Pundits and politicians of all stripes are spouting off, in ever louder tones, about how tribal gaming is spinning out of control. Such allegations are unfounded, yet widely believed."

Get the Story:
Tom Wanamaker: Why amend IGRA? (Indian Country Today 7/5)