Glendale statement on House block of casino
Jun 19, 2012, 7:52 PM | Updated: 7:52 pm
The U.S. House passed a bill that blocked a possible casino from being built near 91st Avenue and Northern.
In response, the city of Glendale released the following statement.
Today’s overwhelmingly bipartisan support for H.R. 2938 continues the strong opposition that has come forward from members of Congress from across the country, Arizona’s Governor, business leaders and 12 Native American tribes in our state to the proposal to create a reservation and begin Las Vegas style gaming in Glendale. The only reason the Tohono O’odham Nation needs the land to be taken into federal trust is to establish off-reservation gaming, thus breaking the promises made to the Arizona voters in 2002.
We applaud Congressman Trent Franks and a strong bi-partisan coalition of U.S. Representatives who voted to uphold the trust of Arizona voters. Proposition 202 was specifically passed based upon a tribal promise – a promise that included the Tohono O’odham Nation – that casino gaming would be restricted to existing reservations and that new reservations would not be established in neighborhoods, especially across the street from a high school.
Today’s vote proves that members from the United States Congress from both parties along with our local, state and tribal leaders will continue to hold the Tohono O’odham Nation’s leadership accountable to the commitment they have already made to Arizona voters to keep gaming only on existing reservation lands.
