U.S. Texas Senator John Cornyn is standing fast in his resistance to a bill in Congress that would allow two East Texas tribes to offer casino gaming—something the state government opposes, but which several U.S. representatives from his party support.
Texas bans gaming, and state officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton oppose what they see as federal overreach to shoulder aside that ban. The state and the tribes, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta, have been battling in federal court for more than ten years.
Abbott recently said that the bill “violates principles of federalism by allowing the expansion of gaming in Texas without state oversight and in violation of the Texas Constitution.”
The state’s senior senator, Cornyn is also one of the most powerful U.S. senators, but he is considered vulnerable in this year’s reelection campaign.
A fellow Republican, Rep. Brian Babin, wrote the bill that would clarify that the tribes can legally operate their casinos, which impact the local economy by an estimated $645 million annually. The areas have long suffered from high unemployment.
Recently Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy wrote in the Freestone County Times, “This bill and the jobs it would save have been left to hang in the balance by our senior senator. His unwillingness to support and assist us on this issue is at odds with pro-business principles, and East Texas could suffer as a result.”
Recently Cornyn wrote to the senate committee in charge of Indian affairs, “This matter is currently the subject of litigation in federal court. In light of these legal and policy disagreements between the Texas state government and these tribes, I request any committee hearings concerning this legislation be postponed until these parties have reached a resolution or agreement.”
Unlike most states, federal law stipulates that tribes cannot offer gaming in Texas without permission of the state. The tribes’ recognition was restored in 1988 without lifting that requirement. The bill in the Senate would correct that omission.
One tribe legally operates a casino in the state, the Kickapoo, at Eagle Pass.
Alabama-Coushatta tribal council Chairwoman Cecilia Flores recently declared, “For decades the federal government said Native American tribes need to become self-sufficient. We finally figured out how to do that … This could help us on our own two feet — to stay self-sufficient.”
Flores has personally lobbied Cornyn, who told her that she should be working on Governor Abbott.
Cornyn was also the target of an advertising campaign in the Austin American-Statesman this summer that named the senator and urged him to change his position.
