Today, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) held a hearing on Internet Gaming: “From Brick and Mortar to the Internet.” Some of the witnesses addressed the SCIA Discussion Draft bill titled, the “Tribal Online Gaming Act of 2012.”

The Draft was publicly announced on Wednesday to Tribal Leaders gathered at the National Indian Gaming Association’s Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C.

NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens, Jr., stated, “While it seems that attempts were made to conform to the principles set forth in the resolutions unanimously adopted by NIGA and NCAI, Indian country was not consulted on the details of this discussion draft. Our organization welcomes the opportunity to analyze the bill. We’ve already begun outreach to our tribal leadership, and we’ll work to correct any provisions that do not provide full faith and credit to tribal government institutions.”

Stevens added, “As we continue to analyze the draft bill, many concerns remain. What I have always made clear is that NIGA will not waver from our mission, which is to protect tribal sovereignty and the rights of all tribes– as Constitutionally acknowledged governments – to conduct gaming to help rebuild our communities. The current draft unfortunately falls short of meeting our principles. So we have work to do.”

However, during the hearing, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman Akaka explained that the Discussion Draft was created because, “Our Committee has developed a discussion draft of an online gaming bill titles, The Tribal Online Gaming Act of 2012. This bill is intended to further the dialog with Tribes, my colleagues in the House and Senate and other affected stakeholders. I encourage all of you to read the bill and provide your comments.”

Since 2001, NIGA has been actively engaged in the Internet gaming discussion. As the debate over Internet gaming intensified, the NIGA Executive Committee formed the Internet gaming and economic development sub-committee in 2010. To date, this sub-committee has met over a dozen times and its work resulted in the unanimous position adopted by our 184 member tribes in August 2011. These principles are directives from our Tribal leadership.

The debate on Internet gaming is of great importance to all tribal governments. Indian tribes in 26 states from across a wide section of Indian country use gaming revenues to rebuild community infrastructure, educate Native children, improve health care for our elders, enhance public safety, and much more.

We recognize there is much at stake not only for Indian country, but for the Nation as a whole in the federal debate to legalize Internet gaming. Indian gaming is responsible for 700,000 American jobs and more than $29 billion in U.S. wages. Indian gaming revenues have also saved thousands of American jobs outside of Indian Country, preventing layoffs of teachers, health care workers, fire fighters, police officers, and many other local government employees that provide essential services to children, elders, and others in the community.

NIGA will now take the document to our Member Tribes and nationwide tribal leadership. The discussion draft will be the topic of NIGA’s upcoming meetings on August 21^st, at the Shakopee Mdewankaton Sioux Community’s Mystic Lake Casino, and September 18-19^th, at NIGA’s Mid-Year Conference hosted by the Seminole Tribe in Hollywood, Florida.