George Miller: “I am supporting this bill. We passed it out of the House last year. Basically the bill removes a restriction on a piece…”

“I am supporting this bill. We passed it out of the House last year. Basically the bill removes a restriction on a piece of property owned by the Agua Caliente Tribe in downtown Palm Springs, California. The restriction, part of the 1959 law, provides that revenues from this property would first go to the 85 Members of the Tribe who lost lands in the use to create tribal property. This asks Congress to remove the restriction so it can distribute the revenues general rated from the Spa Casino, which sits on the property, to all members of the Tribe. The House-passed bill would have compensated 85 members with a cash payment of $22,000 each. The Senate determined that the 85 Members have already been compensated and the property restriction was not intended to last indefinitely. I want to once again, however, state for the record my objection to per capita payments to tribal members from any gambling casino. I think that ultimately, this is unwise, and if we are ever to amend the Indian gaming act, this is one of the issues that Congress will have to reexamine.”