Ernie Stevens, Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, during a speech last week called for more participation by tribes in the debate in Congress as to whether internet gaming should be legalized. NIGA, which has 184 tribal members, has been involved in this discussion since 2001.
“When Indian country stands united our voice cannot be ignored,” he said, saying that unity is the strongest weapon in making the case that tribes are a large enough gaming constituency to have a significant voice in the discussion.
He noted that commercial gaming interests, led by a group called “Coalition To Stop Internet Gambling” and chaired by Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson, have begun lobbying to keep the internet gaming ban.
Currently the House of Representatives is considering an internet poker bill, but the impetus to move it forward doesn’t seem to exist.
According to Stevens, “At the heart of the internet gaming debate, Indian tribes are simply asking to be able to compete on an equal footing. To protect tribal sovereignty, and to ensure equal access to the market, any Internet gaming legislation should be subjected to the full legislative process including hearings and markups in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Conversely, if jurisdictions are going to ban internet gaming, we must look at the impacts on tribal gaming operations in those areas as well.”
