The Tohono O'odham Nation will sue the federal government if Congress enacts H.R.2938, a bill that stops the tribe from building an off-reservation casino, Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said on Tuesday.

In 1986, Congress enacted the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act. The law authorized the tribe to acquire 9,880 acres to replace a reservation that was flooded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Pursuant to the law, the tribe purchased 135 acres near Glendale, Arizona, in 2003. Controversy ensued when the tribe, in 2009, announced plans to build the West Valley Resort at the site.

So far, the tribe has won decisions in federal court to allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs to place the land in trust. But H.R.2938, if enacted, would bar Class II and Class III gaming from taking place at the site.

"Enacting H.R. 2938 would break the promise made by the United States to the Tohono O’odham Nation to compensate the Nation for the nearly 10,000 acres of land that it lost due to the actions of the United States in exchange for the transfer of the nation’s Gila Bend land and the release of its rights and claims," Norris told the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs yesterday.

"If Congress enacts H.R. 2938, it not only will provide another example in the long, sad tradition of the United States breaking its promises to Indian tribes, but it also will burden the United States and its taxpayers with very substantial liability for the breach of contract, breach of trust, and takings claims that the nation will have against the United States for breaching the settlement agreement entered into under the Lands Replacement Act," he added.

If Congress indeed passes the bill, President Barack Obama will likely veto it. An official said the administration opposes the measure because it reopens a 25-year settlement between the tribe and the Interior Department.

"The department cannot support unilaterally altering this agreement so long after the fact," Paula Hart, the director of the Office of Indian Gaming at the BIA, told lawmakers.

Although the BIA has agreed to acquire the land, a determination hasn't been made on its eligibility for gaming. Generally, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act bars gaming on newly acquired land.

However, Section 20 of IGRA contains an exception for land acquired in connection with a land claim settlement. The exception appears to apply to the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Get the Story:
O'odham head warns DC of gaming suit (Capitol Media Services 10/5)
Debate on West Valley casino reaches Congress (The Arizona Republic 10/5)
Barrett: Tohono O'odham unfairly painted as bad guys (The West Valley Daily News-Sun 10/5)
Arizona tribes, lawmakers spar in Washington over proposed Glendale casino (Cronkite News 10/4)

Committee Notice:
Subcommittee on Indians and Alaska Native Affairs Legislative Hearing on H.R. 2938 (October 4, 2011)

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Rep. Grijalva opposes bill to halt Tohono O'odham Nation casino (9/19)
Press conference for bill to block Tohono O'odham Nation casino (9/16)
Bill bars Tohono O'odham Nation from gaming on acquired land (9/15)
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