Senators applaud Justice Department action

Thursday, March 12, 1998 | 4:01 a.m.

Sens. Richard Bryan and Harry Reid, both D-Nev., wrote U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno applauding a department announcement that her department will "begin to enforce federal laws prohibiting illegal gambling in California."

The senators, in a joint statement, said they were pleased to see the development, "hopefully ending years of violations of federal law."

The Justice Department announcement came following an agreement last week between California Gov. Pete Wilson an the Pala Band of Mission Indians to allow the tribe to conduct legalized gaming under a compact with the state, in accordance with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Bryan and Reid have been critical of the Justice Department for failure to enforce federal laws against illegal Indian gambling, contending tibes in California now have 14,000 illegal slot machines and no gaming regulation.

Slot machines are illegal under California law for Indians and non-Indians. Under federal law, Indian gaming is allowed only if the governor of the state agrees and it is legal under state law.

Last year, the Senate passed a resolution by Bryan and Reid calling on the Justice Department to enforce laws against illegal Indian gaming.

"This is a step in the right direction by the Justice Department," said Reid. "Tough laws on the books are fine but absent enforcement they have no teeth."

"With the Justice Department turning a blind eye toward illegal gambling, there was no incentive to reach a compact agreement with the state and operate gaming legally," Bryan said. "Finally with this agreement and the promise from Justice to back it up by enforcing federal law we can ensure that only legal gaming is allowed in California."

Meanwhile, the senators are concerned about a provision in the Justice Department announcement. The agency says tribes now operating gaming without a compact with the state will have the option of adopting a compact like the one reached with the Pala band. In such cases, the tribe may "continue any gaming that it is currently offering during a reasonable transition period."

The senators said the provision allows a tribe conducting illegal gambling to continue to do so, calling the provision neither fair nor reasonable.

"It is difficult to envision any scenario that allows continued violation of federal gambling laws, and we hope that 'reasonable time' is indeed an extremely short period," Bryan and Reid said in their letter to Reno.