House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is giving Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) a full House vote Wednesday on a nettlesome Indian gaming bill he’s been pushing for years as a surefire way to help out his cash-strapped district.
Dingell and his allies tried — albeit unsuccessfully — to insert it into various legislative vehicles despite an onslaught of complaints from high-profile opponents and others, such as convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who were stalwartly against congressional intervention in the issue.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), then the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs panel investigating Abramoff’s Indian gambling lobbying scandal, was infuriated by an effort to parachute the language into an early version of the 2005 highway bill. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), at Dingell’s urging, had placed the language deep within the massive transportation measure as early as 2003.
Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), the House Natural Resources chairman, also objected. Both he, and especially McCain, were incensed that Dingell and Young were bypassing their committees of jurisdiction, as well as what they regarded as the normal Department of the Interior approval of Indian issues involving casino interests.
For the complete story, please see Susan Crabtree, Pelosi to grant vote on Indian gaming bill benefiting Rep. Dingell’s district, The Hill, June 24, 2008.
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