Senate confirms Tracie Stevens to lead Indian gaming agency

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Tracie Stevens to serve as chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Stevens is a member of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington. She is the first woman to lead the agency that regulates the $27 billion tribal casino industry.

Stevens comes to the agency with extensive experience in Indian gaming. She has worked on gaming and Indian issues for her tribe and for national and regional tribal organizations. She came to Washington, D.C, last year to work for Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Once Stevens is sworn in, the NIGC will have three full-time members for the first time in more than two years. Daniel Little, a former employee of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut, recently joined as an associate commissioner, and Steffani Cochran, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, of Oklahoma, became vice chair earlier this year.

Committee Hearing:
HEARING on the President’s Nomination of Tracie L. Stevens to serve as Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission (May 26, 2010)

White House Announcement:
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts (White House 4/28)

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