Texas: Tribe pushes for reopening casino

Texas: Tribe pushes for reopening casino

	Published : Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:08 By : Agencies Print this Story

AUSTIN (AP) - The door could open to casino gambling again on the Tigua Indian reservation in El Paso under legislation approved Tuesday by a Texas House committee.

Rep. Norma Chavez's bill also could help the Alabama-Coushatta tribe in East Texas reopen a casino. Both tribes say they need the profits from casino gambling to fund social and education programs on their struggling reservations.

'I have always told my people that silence is acceptance, and you have got to be able to speak up,' Tigua tribal Gov. Arturo Senclair testified before the lawmakers.

Texas already has a lottery, and he suggested there's little difference between the lottery and slot machines in the way the games are conducted, Senclair said.

'There is gambling in the state of Texas, and we do have an Indian casino,' he said, referring to a limited casino run by the Kickapoo Indian tribe in Eagle Pass.

The proposal by Chavez, an El Paso Democrat, creates a defense to prosecution for gambling activities on federally recognized Indian lands. In a 6-1 vote, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee approved the measure.

The legislation now moves on to the full House. Similar bills have failed in previous sessions.

The Tiguas won federal recognition as a tribe in 1987 and began their gambling operation in the mid-1990s with high-stakes bingo, then added slot machines. Eventually, the tribe earned about $60 million a year from its casino.

In 2002, a federal court agreed with then-Attorney General John Cornyn of Texas that the casino violated the state's limited gambling laws and shut it down.

Jo Ann Battise, tribal chairwoman for the Alabama-Coushatta, said in her testimony that her tribe and surrounding communities would be helped if a casino gambling operation were allowed.

'A tribal gaming enterprise will be an economic benefit,' she said. 'We want to be self-sufficient. Without the right to game, however, our options are extremely limited.'

The Alabama-Coushatta, located near Livingston, operated a casino for nine months but was forced to close it down in 2002.

Senclair spoke during his testimony about the Tigua tribe's past connections with disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, as his client.

'In our Native American beliefs, everything comes in a circle,' he said, referring to Abramoff's legal troubles.

The Tigua leader pointed out that gambling is allowed just across the state line in New Mexico, and that El Paso area gamblers are going there now instead of the Tigua casino.

The Tigua tribe recently indicated it wants to build a casino on 10 acres in nearby southern New Mexico to replace its shuttered gambling operation. But the tribe has continued working to persuade Texas lawmakers to allow gambling again.

The Texas Eagle Forum and the Baptist lobby's Christian Life Commission signed up Tuesday in opposition to Chavez's bill, but their representatives did not speak publicly.

Chavez has filed several pieces of legislation aimed at helping the Tigua tribe of El Paso reopen its Speaking Rock Casino. Some of the proposals will be heard by another House committee that oversees most gambling-related legislation.