Senate backs Reid amendment on Indian gaming

Friday, Sept. 19, 1997 | 10:29 a.m.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved an amendment offered by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., that would bar the National Indian Gaming Commission from easing its regulations to allow slot machines on more Indian reservations.

The NGIC recently proposed new rules that would have allowed tribal casinos offering only bingo and lotto games to add slot machines and video games, a change that could threaten Nevada casino operators already chafing over stiff competition from illegal machines in California.

Reid has criticized the NGIC's enforcement record and urged additional funding so the agency can be more effective in overseeing tribal gaming. But he said it should leave lawmaking to legislators.

"Once again a federal entity is trying to do an end run around Congress to change law administratively," Reid said. "I strongly believe these kinds of proposed changes need to be considered legislatively, as the Indian Affairs Committee takes up improvements on the original act, and not done in the dead of the night.

"There has been a concerted effort by some tribes to avoid the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act" by pushing the rules changes, he said. "This threatens the integrity of the law. Any attempts to redefine that law should be done by those who wrote it, not by those trying to go around it."

Reid's amendment was inserted into the Interior Department Appropriations bill. Reid sits on both the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee.