Raúl Grijalva: “I am not going to get into the points that were made about extortion and immorality. What is going on here is that this…”

“I am not going to get into the points that were made about extortion and immorality. What is going on here is that this piece of legislation, H.R. 308, seeks to target just one tribe, the Tohono O'odham Nation, in order to retroactively prohibit a specific casino which is on their reservation land and which is almost completely constructed and will soon be operational. Other wealthy special interests don't want the competition. It is as simple as that. We have talked about the court cases, the agency's ruling, and the land's being taken into trust. The tribe is right in that their West Valley casino is well within the conditions of the Arizona Gaming Compact, and it has been upheld by the courts; but that hasn't stopped the special interests and the wealthy lobbyists from pushing this reckless bill year after year. {time} 1530 By supporting H.R. 308, I think the Members are setting a dangerous precedent. You are saying that no matter what the obligations are to our Native Nations by a previous Congress, no matter what was promised to them and agreed in law, no matter what was decided and ruled upon by a court, no matter the process undertaken by the administration--you are opening up a very, very dangerous area--that you can unilaterally undo, by the request of outside interests for one tribe, their ability to take full advantage of the law that was passed in 1986 and to make them whole again economically.…”