Indian Gaming Business: Tribes pay to play in DC

Monday, July 17, 2006

The July 2006 cover story of Indian Gaming Business magazine focuses on the history and current status of Indian lobbying in Washington, D.C.

The message is that gaming and controversies related to gaming have made it hard for tribes to make their case. Perceived as being wealthy, tribes are having to make millions in campaign contributions and payments to lobbyists, writer Dave Palermo, an Indian gaming and tribal public relations expert says.

"In the old days friends were made by coming to Washington and finding people who believed in the Indian cause, the justness of our argument. It was not because you were donating money. It was because what you stood for what was right and good and the American way. Now it's largely about giving money. That kind of friendship lasts as long as you are giving money," a "high-ranking" Senate Indian Affairs Committee staffer is quoted as saying.

A "senior" Interior Department officials offers a similar assessment. "There are two things that count in Washington: money and your ability to deliver votes. Tribes will never be able to deliver a significant number of votes for either party. No where near the labor unions or the pro-life or pro-choice groups. Tribes have money. That's their bargaining chip," the official says.

Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado) says gaming "gets media attention and appears to be a bigger issue in Washington than it actually is." He opposes a bill by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the current chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, to reform the tribal casino industry.

"After this session McCain will be gone. He'll chair another committee," Campbell says.

Get the Story:
Native Voice on Capitol Hill (Indian Gaming Business July 2006)