"U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona held hearings on the recognition process. He and his colleagues need to reform it. One way, as Mr. Blumenthal and others have suggested, would be to place oversight in the hands of a regulatory body with the authority and standing of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Congress should also reform the 1988 Indian Gaming Act. The law is supposed to provide a source of revenue to impoverished communities of American Indians. It should not apply to tribes whose members have long since been assimilated into the local economy. For Connecticut's tribes, casino wealth is simply a windfall for which there is no policy justification.

One way to reform the law would be to separate federal recognition from gambling and create a different set of standards to qualify for casino ownership. Another possibility would be to limit casino ownership to tribes already recognized. Connecticut has two tribes that have won federal recognition and have opened huge casinos. That's enough."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Turnabout On Tribes (The Hartford Courant 7/4)
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