Inouye sides with new tribes
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Sen. Daniel Inouye said yesterday that a proposed moratorium on federal recognition of American Indian tribes is unfair to the tribes and could undermine the movement to recognize Native Hawaiians.
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"I can just about assure you it won't become law," said Inouye, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.
Sen. Daniel Inouye is concerned that a moratorium might have a negative impact on federal recognition for Hawaiians.
Two senators from Connecticut are trying to force a vote on the moratorium out of concern about casino gambling on Indian reservations. The moratorium would be added as an amendment to a U.S. Department of Interior spending bill awaiting debate on the Senate floor.
Sen. Christopher Dodd and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, both D-Conn., appealed to Inouye and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., the ranking Republican on the committee. Aides to the Connecticut senators said yesterday they were attempting to build support, but Inouye flatly dismissed the idea of a moratorium in an interview with The Advertiser.
The federal government has recognized 562 Indian tribes; more than 200 others have petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tribes that obtain recognition have a government-to-government relationship with the United States and, in general, their land is exempt from most state and local laws. They also can pursue compacts with state governments to develop casino gaming, which in the last 15 years has grown into a thriving tribal industry with $12.7 billion in revenue.
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Dodd and Lieberman want the recognition process reviewed. The government's decision in June to recognize the Historic Eastern
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., is the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.
Pequots — a merger of two tribes — created controversy in Connecticut because the tribe plans a new casino. The state has challenged the decision. Connecticut already has two casinos, the Mohegan Sun and the sprawling Foxwoods Resort Casino, billed as the largest in the world.
Inouye said a moratorium would be unfair to tribes in other states, some of which have been waiting years for recognition and have no plans for gambling.
"It would have implications throughout the land," he said. "It's not fair to the others."
Inouye is concerned that a moratorium might have a negative impact on federal recognition for Hawaiians. Bills are pending in the House and Senate to recognize Hawaiians as indigenous, like American Indians, and begin the process of self-governance over native lands.
Hawai'i lawmakers have removed gambling as an issue in the recognition movement to preclude any challenges from gambling opponents in Congress. A moratorium on new Indian tribes, however, may lead more lawmakers to question whether the entire recognition process is flawed and could influence a potential vote on Hawaiians.
