Keep the Promise Act of 2013

Floor Speech

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1410) to prohibit gaming activities on certain Indian lands in Arizona until the expiration of certain gaming compacts.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 1410, the Keep the Promise Act, introduced by a bipartisan group of Members from the Arizona delegation, would preserve Arizona's voter-approved gaming compact by prohibiting any Indian casino on land acquired in trust after April 9, 2013, in the Phoenix metropolitan area. This prohibition would expire on January 1, 2027, when the current gaming compact negotiated with the Arizona Governor expires.

This bill helps to resolve public promises that were supposedly made in good faith to the voters of Arizona. In 2002, the voters supported the passage of Proposition 202, which limited the number of tribally owned casinos in the State, and it granted tribes exclusive rights to operate casinos in Arizona. During the Proposition 202 campaign, a public promise was made by a coalition of 17 Arizona tribes, including the Tohono O'odham Nation, to limit casino gaming in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Unfortunately, it appears that a tribe is on the verge of breaking that commitment, and more than a majority of the tribes in the State are upset.

The immediate effect of the bill is to block the Tohono O'odham Nation from opening an off-reservation casino in the Phoenix area. This is a modified version of a bill passed by an overwhelming majority of the House last year.

As mentioned earlier, the bill has bipartisan support, including a majority of the House delegation, the Governor of Arizona, and six of the tribes that took part in the Proposition 202 agreement: the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Gila River Indian Community, the Hualapai Tribe, the Pueblo Zuni, the Cocopah Indian Tribe, and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Tribe.

It is important to point out that it is not just Arizona tribes that support this bill. I have met tribes from other States, and they are very concerned about what is happening in Arizona. They believe that if our legislation is not signed into law, a dangerous precedent could be set, leading to the expansion of off-reservation casinos in Arizona and other States. They want to see Congress protect State gaming compacts.

For me, today's deliberations are not about stopping one casino or gaming as a whole. I support gaming. The Keep the Promise Act is about protecting the integrity of my State's gaming compact, the future of gaming in Arizona, and, ultimately, the future of Indian gaming in this country.

I urge adoption of the measure and reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to acknowledge that out of our committee this bill was reported 35-1 in favor of this bill, so a heavily bipartisan bill reported to the House.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Trust is a series of promises kept. That's the basis of all government functions. And that is the same thing that is required of the Tohono O'odham. When they entered into the agreement in 2002, they publicly supported the compact which limited the amount of casinos in the Phoenix-Greater Phoenix area.

Yes, it is true there are other precedents behind it, but contractual law always follows and subjugates itself when you look at this.

The speaker from Arizona spoke about the dialogue with the courts. The courts had to rule because the Tohono O'odham hid behind sovereignty in which the tapes and discussion in which they were truly negating or negotiating behind closed doors in dire dissent against this compact would not be disclosed. So the court only had one way to look.

Congress has the ability to rectify this answer, and that's why we are here today. This is good legislation. It doesn't prohibit any of the jurisdictions over that, except just complying with the compact to the end of the compact, 2027. Once upon that time, then they can renegotiate, and everybody is fairly into the game.

This is about trust, but it is trust from the Tohono O'odham to the Federal Government, to the taxpayers of Arizona, to the Governor, and to the other tribes of Arizona.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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