Legislation | NIGC | Regulation

Witness list for Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The Cherokee Nation owns and operates the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Photo from Facebook

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is taking its first look at the $27 billion tribal gaming industry in the 114th Congress.

The committee, led by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), will hear from federal, tribal and state officials tomorrow afternoon. A representative of the Government Accountability Office, which released a study of Indian gaming last month, is slated to appear.

The hearing also marks the first Capitol Hill appearance of Jonodev Chaudhuri since his confirmation as chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission in April. The GAO report questions some of his agency's initiatives.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell administers the oath of office to Jonodev Chaudhuri, the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Photo from Twitter

"This new report calls for improvements in the Commission’s methods in maintaining the integrity of the gaming system,” Barrasso said in a press release last month. “The NIGC should find more effective methods that will ensure all facets of gaming are conducted with accountability and accuracy.”

The hearing takes place immediately following a business meeting at 2:15pm in Room 216 of the Senate Hart Office Building. The room is much larger than the one used for the committee's regular hearings to accommodate a potentially bigger turnout.

The witness list follows:

•The Honorable Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri
Chairman-National Indian Gaming Commission, Washington, DC
•Ms. Anne-Marie Fennell
Director-Natural Resources and Environment, United States Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC
•Mr. Jamie Hummingbird
Chairman-National Tribal Gaming Commissioners & Regulators Association, Oneida, WI
•Mr. David Trujillo
Director-Washington State Gambling Commission, Olympia, WA
•Mr. Ernest L. Stevens, Jr.
Chairman-National Indian Gaming Association, Washington, DC

Committee Notices:
Business Meeting to consider S. 1704 and S. 1776 (July 22, 2015)
Oversight Hearing on "Safeguarding the Integrity of Indian Gaming" (July 22, 2015)

Government Accountability Office Report:
Regulation and Oversight by the Federal Government, States, and Tribes (June 3, 2015)