Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2208, sponsored by my colleague from Texas (Ms. Escobar), would amend the act of Congress that restored the Federal recognition of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.

The amendment would override a gaming limitation imposed by Congress on the Tribes, thereby authorizing the Tribes to operate casinos regulated not under Texas law, as Federal law currently provides, but under the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

The question of whether Texas law or the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act applies to the two Tribes is no longer under serious dispute. Federal courts have settled the question, and the result of the litigation is that the two Tribes may not conduct gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, unless Congress enacts a measure to allow them to do so.

The bill enjoys significant local support in the communities around the reservations of the two Tribes, and the members who represent the Tribes strongly support enactment of the measure.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I support this bipartisan bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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