Pete Domenici: “I would like my colleagues and my constituents to understand why I support the amendment of Mr. Reid regarding the…”

“I would like my colleagues and my constituents to understand why I support the amendment of Mr. Reid regarding the classification of gambling devices by the National Indian Gaming Commission. As we have experienced in New Mexico, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act [IGRA] was difficult to apply in our state, but it does draw some important lines and legal distinctions that are now understood by New Mexico tribes and the state government. IGRA now serves as the basis for the compacts that allow Indian gambling casinos to be legal in New Mexico and in our nation. If we do not adopt the Reid amendment, I believe we will be implicitly supporting an effort that has the clear potential of unraveling IGRA as we now understand it, without the benefit of congressional oversight. The National Indian Gaming Commission has issued new regulations and started a public comment process that could result in the removal of slot machines from the strict regulation we envisioned for them under the system of tribal-state compacts we designed in IGRA. Removing slot machines from this process and placing them under the control of the National Indian Gaming Commission could ignite a renewed debate about IGRA and result in undermining the delicate balance we have struck between tribal and states' rights in regulating gambling casinos on Indian reservations.”