Navajo president vetoes two more gaming bills

Tuesday, February 6, 2007  

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. vetoed two more gaming bills on Monday, saying they violate the tribe's compacts with New Mexico and Arizona.

The Navajo Nation Council passed bills to create gaming enterprises at the To'hajiilee and Shiprock chapters. Both communities are based in New Mexico.

Shirley said the new enterprises conflict with the tribe's gaming compacts. He said the council needs to support the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, the tribe's main gaming entity.

Shirley also said To'hajiilee, a satellite community outside of Albuquerque, is no longer a viable casino site. The tribe previously signed a compact to open a casino there.

Shirley previously vetoed a bill to create a gaming enterprise at another New Mexico site but the council overrode it.

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Navajo president vetoes gaming enterprises in New Mexico (AP 2/6)