[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2353 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2353

To make technical corrections to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2005

  Mr. Rogers of Michigan (for himself, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. 
Wolf, Mr. Boustany, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Dent, Mr. Herger, 
  Mr. Shays, and Mr. Pitts) introduced the following bill; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To make technical corrections to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Common Sense Indian Gambling Reform 
Act''.

SEC. 2. BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS AND APPROVAL OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS.

    (a) Background Investigations.--
            (1) Gaming investors.--Section 7(b)(3) of the Indian Gaming 
        Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2706(b)(3)) is amended to read as 
        follows:
            ``(3) shall conduct or cause to be conducted background 
        investigations on the 10 persons or entities with the highest 
        financial interest (such as loans, debt-based financing, 
        financial backing for equipment or other startup or operation 
        costs, and other financial interests as determined by the 
        Commission) in a gaming operation regulated by the Commission 
        and such other background investigations as may be 
        necessary;''.
            (2) Tribal gaming officials.--Section 11(b)(2)(F)(i) of the 
        Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2710(b)(2)(F)(i)) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``conducted on'' the first place it 
                appears and inserting ``conducted by the Commission on 
                tribal gaming commissioners, key tribal gaming 
                commission employees, and''; and
                    (B) by striking ``such officials and their 
                management'' and inserting ``such individuals''.
    (b) Approval of Financial Interests.--Section 6 of the Indian 
Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2705) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) approve financial interests between the 10 persons or 
        entities with the highest financial interest (such as loans, 
        debt-based financing, financial backing for equipment or other 
        startup or operation costs, and other financial interests as 
        determined by the Commission) and a gaming operation regulated 
        by the Commission.''.
    (c) Commission Funding.--Section 18(a)(2)(B) of the Indian Gaming 
Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2717(a)(2)(B)) is amended by striking 
``$8,000,000'' and inserting ``$16,000,000''.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF INTENT TO GAME ON TRUST LANDS.

    (a) Class II Gaming.--Section 11(b)(1) of the Indian Gaming 
Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2710(b)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C)(i) conducted on lands taken into trust before 
                the date of the enactment of this subparagraph; or
                    ``(ii) conducted on lands taken into trust after 
                the date of the enactment of this subparagraph only if 
                the application requesting that the land be taken into 
                trust stated that the Indian tribe intended to conduct 
                gaming activities on such land.''.
    (b) Class III Gaming.--Section 11(d)(1) of the Indian Gaming 
Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2710(d)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(D)(i) conducted on lands taken into trust before 
                the date of the enactment of this subparagraph; or
                    ``(ii) conducted on lands taken into trust after 
                the date of the enactment of this subparagraph only if 
                the application requesting that the land be taken into 
                trust stated that the Indian tribe intended to conduct 
                gaming activities on such land.''.

SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION REGARDING CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR EXCEPTION TO 
              GAMING RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN LAND.

     Section 20(b)(1)(A) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 
2719(b)(1)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``appropriate State and local officials, 
        including officials of other nearby Indian tribes'' and 
        inserting ``officials of any State or local government or 
        Indian tribe with jurisdiction over land located within 50 
        miles of the land proposed to be taken into trust''; and
            (2) by striking ``and would not be detrimental to the 
        surrounding community'' and inserting ``and, after conducting 
        an economic impact study, determines that a gaming 
        establishment on newly acquired lands would not have a negative 
        economic impact on business, government, or Indian tribes 
        within a 50 mile radius of the land proposed to be taken into 
        trust or be otherwise detrimental to the community with such 50 
        mile radius''.

SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF COMPACTS BY STATE.

    Section 11(d) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 
2710(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(10) For the purposes of State approval under this 
        subsection, the term `State' shall mean the Governor of the 
        State and the legislative body of the State.''.

SEC. 6. RESTRICTION ON GAMING.

    (a) Amendments.--Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 
U.S.C. 2719) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (1) of subsection (b) to read as 
        follows:
            ``(1)(A) Subsection (a) shall not apply to Indian land of 
        an Indian tribe if each of the conditions in subparagraph (B) 
        are satisfied and the Indian tribe--
                    ``(i) was newly recognized after October 17, 1988 
                (including those newly recognized under the Federal 
                Acknowledgement Process at the Bureau of Indian 
                Affairs);
                    ``(ii) was restored by legislation, court decree, 
                or any other process after having been terminated by 
                Federal law; or
                    ``(iii) on the date of the enactment of subsection 
                (e), had no lands held in trust by the United States 
                for the benefit of the Indian tribe, no reservation, 
                and no lands held by the Indian tribe subject to 
                restriction by the United States against alienation 
                over which the Indian tribe exercised governmental 
                power.
            ``(B) The conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) are 
        the following:
                    ``(i) The Secretary determines that the lands 
                acquired in trust for the benefit of the Indian tribe 
                for the purposes of gaming are lands within the State 
                where the Indian tribe has its primary geographic, 
                social, and historical nexus to the land.
                    ``(ii) The Secretary determines that the proposed 
                gaming activity is in the best interest of the Indian 
                tribe, its tribal members, and would not be detrimental 
                to the surrounding community.
                    ``(iii) The State, city, county, town, parish, 
                village, and other general purpose political 
                subdivisions of the State with authority over land that 
                is concurrent or contiguous to the lands acquired in 
                trust for the benefit of the Indian tribe for the 
                purposes of gaming approve.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an Indian 
tribe may conduct gaming regulated by this Act on only one contiguous 
parcel of Indian lands. Such Indian lands must be located where that 
Indian tribe has its primary geographic, social, and historical nexus 
and within the State or States where the Indian tribe is primarily 
located.''.
    (b) Statutory Construction.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
shall be applied prospectively. Compacts or other agreements that 
govern gaming regulated by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that were 
in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act shall not be 
affected by the amendments made by subsection (a).
                                 <all>