Hogen nominated to head Indian gaming agency

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2002

President Bush on Tuesday nominated a tribal member to oversee regulation of the $12.7 billion Indian gaming industry, ending months of speculation on the future of a federal agency that has come under fire in recent years.

But Philip N. Hogen is no stranger to the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) or its troubles. He served as an associate commissioner during the Clinton administration from 1995 to 1998, a time when non-Indian casino interests questioned whether the regulators were keeping up with what was then a $6 billion and growing market.

He's also familiar with the workings of the federal government, having served as the first director of the Office of American Indian Trust, within the Bureau of Indian Affairs, from 1992 to 1993. Prior to that, he was the U.S. Attorney for South Dakota, his home state, for 10 years.

"Phil Hogen's reputation for honesty and integrity is beyond question, and his unique blend of experience makes him an outstanding candidate to serve as the next chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission," said Rep. John Thune (R-S.D.) yesterday.

A member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe, Hogen comes to the commission from another Bush administration post. He has been the Department of Interior solicitor in charge of Indian affairs, work that has seen him and other officials fend off criticism for their handling of Indian trust assets.

Pending Senate confirmation to head the NIGC, Hogen will get away from those scuffles but encounter a whole new set. Tribes, gaming companies, states and Republicans are fighting over the reach and power of the commission, which saw its powers and duties expand during the Clinton administration.

The stakes are high. Aside from self-determination, gaming has been the most successful federal Indian policy in decades, and has helped tribes combat poverty, buy back lost land and stimulate economic growth where none existed.

With that new influence, tribes have sought to limit federal oversight of their casinos. The National Indian Gaming Association, which represents more than 160 tribes, and casino companies with ties to Indian Country support greater tribal control.

"Indian people are primary regulators and the best regulators," NIGC chairman Ernie Stevens said recently. "Indian Country has honest, hard working operations."

States, on the other hand, have not always responded kindly to casinos in their own backyard. Although many have warmed up in recent months -- thanks to revenue sharing agreements -- they have sought to enforce their stake in the process.

Like many members of the conservative Bush administration, Hogen falls somewhere in the middle of the camps. During his first term at the NIGC, he resisted state attempts to obtain private financial data about Indian casinos.

"Sorry, we can't let you have it," he told the members of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission in February 1999.

But he also has a prosecutor's background, having spent years enforcing the law in Indian Country in South Dakota. Even before he moved to shut down the Santee Sioux Tribe's fledgling yet financially important casino, he was trying to evict his own tribal members from a protest camp they established on federal forest land in the Black Hills.

His own tribe fired him in March 1995, just a few months following the delayed opening of its casino. He had negotiated an agreement with a gaming company and helped gain NIGC approval. Tribal council members, however, weren't sure whether he worked for them or the company.

Hogen, who also served as judge for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, will replace Montie R. Deer. Deer served as NIGC chairman for the last three years of the Clinton administration.

Secretary of Interior Gale Norton will be nominating the two associate commissioners shortly. At least one must be a tribal member and at least one must not be a Republican.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is responsible for holding a hearing for Hogen.

Relevant Links:
National Indian Gaming Commission - http://www.nigc.gov