Tribal leaders and Indian experts said the National Indian Gaming Commission should be the federal agency in charge of online tribal gaming.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee released a draft of the Tribal Online Gaming Act this week. The proposed bill creates a new office within the Commerce Department to regulate tribal Internet poker games.

Tribal witnesses, however, expressed support for the NIGC, an independent agency within the Interior Department. Setting up a new office would likely take years and could hurt tribal interests, they noted.

"The NIGC is well suited, more so than any other federal agency, to transition into Internet gaming," Glen Globin, the secretary of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, told the committee at a hearing yesterday.

"No other federal agency possesses comparable experience and expertise in the context of tribal gaming," added Liz Homer, who served on the NIGC during the Clinton administration.

The committee's Tribal Online Gaming Act remains in discussion form so significant changes are likely if it ever gets introduced in the Senate.

Get the Story:
Tribes want federal regulation of Internet gaming (AP 7/26)
Tribes Want Input on Net Gambling Legislation (The National Journal 7/26)

Committee Notice:
OVERSIGHT HEARING on Regulation of Tribal Gaming: From Brick & Mortar to the Internet (July 26, 2012)

TRIBAL ONLINE GAMING ACT OF 2012:
Summary of SCIA Internet gaming bill | Draft of SCIA Internet gaming bill

Related Stories:
Details of Senate Indian Affairs Committee online gaming draft (7/26)
Audio from Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on gaming (7/26)