Court Okays New Michigan Casino Accused Lobbyist Abramoff Tried to Block
|
||||||||||
| Printer Friendly Story View |
New Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council members pose for official portrait posted recently on their website, Sagchip.org.
A federal court has cleared the way for a new casino near New Buffalo that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff reportedly bragged he had blocked.
But a Republican member of congress, Mike Rogers, of Brighton, has called for a two-year moratorium on new casinos on grounds lobbyists had "exploited" the land-into-trust process used by tribes.
"Putting a complete halt to new tribal casinos for two years would give us time to get our arms around the process and better understand the problem," said Rep. Rogers.
Judge Harry T. Edwards of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Friday delivered the unanimous court opinion upholding plans of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians for a $160 million Four Winds Casino.
The decision said the tribe is entitled to acquire trust land and use it to achieve economic self sufficiency.
The court decision restored the Pokagon Band's land base that had been taken away by a 1935 federal denial of application for reorganization of the tribe.
The tribe's attempts to put land into trust in order to operate the casino has been opposed by a non-profit group calling itself Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos (TOMAC).
The decision and tribal plans for a casino along with the Abramoff scandal and Rep. Rogers call for a moratorium may ignite further controversy about Native American gambling. Michigan already has more than 20 Indian casinos.
The band has purchased 675 acres in New Buffalo Township, Berrien County, and has planned a 110,000 square foot gaming facility, a 200 room four star hotel, half a dozen restaurants, and other facilities. An estimated 4.5 million visitors a year, mainly from Chicago, South Bend, Indiana, and Benton Harbor-St. Joseph, Michigan, areas are expected to visit the casino and hotel.
The decision slaps down efforts to block a new casino in Michigan by Abramoff, lobbyist who has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Saginaw Chippewa and three other tribes of more than $80 million
. Federal officials said Abramoff recently had bragged in an e-mail that he had influenced the U.S. Department of the Interior official Steven Griles to oppose expansion of gambling in Michigan.
The widening Abramoff has involved the George W. Bush campaign, Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition, Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio and may taint many others. It is being called the biggest scandal in Congress in a century.
Last week the Bush campaign and senators and representatives began attempting to distance themselves from the Abramoff scandal by returning donations from the tribes influenced by the lobbyist.
| Printer Friendly Story View |
|
|
Dave Rogers |
|
|
|
Printer-Friendly Story View
0200 Nd: 04-15-2024 d 4 cpr 0
12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm
SPONSORED LINKS
12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm