2.07.08
Big guns join casino battle
Flint emerges as clear option to Romulus
By MIKE CONNELL
Times Herald
The long-stalled proposal for a Port Huron casino led to a 3½-hour sparring match Wednesday between several Capitol Hill heavyweights.
"We are not asking for off-reservation gambling, we are simply asking for the settlement of land claims legitimately made by our governor and the tribes," argued Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, the dean of the House and the sponsor of one of the two bills under debate.
"Congress has never passed a gaming compact," countered Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Detroit, chairwoman of the influential Congressional Black Caucus and mother of Detroit's mayor.
The two bills, one introduced by Dingell and the other by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, are meant to settle a land dispute dating to the 1850s.
Flint emerges as clear option to Romulus
By MIKE CONNELL
Times Herald
The long-stalled proposal for a Port Huron casino led to a 3½-hour sparring match Wednesday between several Capitol Hill heavyweights.
"We are not asking for off-reservation gambling, we are simply asking for the settlement of land claims legitimately made by our governor and the tribes," argued Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, the dean of the House and the sponsor of one of the two bills under debate.
"Congress has never passed a gaming compact," countered Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Detroit, chairwoman of the influential Congressional Black Caucus and mother of Detroit's mayor.
The two bills, one introduced by Dingell and the other by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, are meant to settle a land dispute dating to the 1850s.
Stupak's bill would provide the Bay Mills Chippewa with land in Port Huron in exchange for giving up its claim to 110 acres at Charlotte Beach in the Upper Peninsula. Dingell's bill offers the Sault Chippewa, which also has a Charlotte Beach claim, a casino site in either Flint or Romulus.
The political wrangling - seven members of Congress spoke in support of the bills and seven spoke against it - was hardly the day's only highlight. Among other headlines:
Detroit's embattled mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, made his first appearance on Capitol Hill in the two weeks since the text-and-sex scandal erupted.
With his mom looking on, he seemed at ease. "We're pitting Port Huron against Romulus against Detroit," he testified. "There aren't new gamers coming into the city of Detroit. ... Another casino in the mix will only hurt the vitality of all these casinos."
Flint emerged as a clear alternative to Romulus as the location for a Sault Chippewa casino.
Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint, an expert on Indian law and earlier a vigorous opponent of the land deals, threw his support behind the bills. "I have to consider the economic realities of my hometown," he explained, and he proceeded to skewer most of the legal objections raised by opponents of the measure.
The chief of the Saginaw Chippewa, which has joined MGM Mirage in financing the campaign to block the two casinos, tossed out a bombshell in the hearing's final minutes.
Chief Fred Cantu said he suspects the Charlotte Beach land claims were "a scam from the outset." He said he will ask the Department of Interior to investigate allegations of fraud.
The 49-member committee could vote on the two bills as early as next Wednesday, but Rep. Kilpatrick closed the hearing with an appeal for a postponement.
"We don't want to be party to anything criminal," she said. "I would just implore the committee to look further into the matter."
Miller speaks out
It wouldn't be the first such delay. The original Port Huron casino bill was introduced 5½ years ago by former Rep. David Bonior. He gave up his seat to run for governor in 2002, but the casino banner was picked up by his successor, Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township.
She made a passionate appeal Wednesday, saying: "Port Huron is a beautiful city, a proud city, which has fallen on extremely difficult economic times."
Miller noted there are gaming facilities across the river in Point Edward and Sarnia, "where 80% of their revenue is from Americans." She observed how every elected official who represents Port Huron supports the casino.
"We are not asking for a handout," the congresswoman said. "We are simply asking for fairness, and for an opportunity."
Disgraceful tactics
Miller and Dingell also criticized casino opponents, who they said have hired public-relations consultants to set up shell companies to attack the bills.
Gambling Watch, incorporated in mid-January by Republican consultant Lori Wortz of Lansing, has used mass mailing to attack the casinos as a threat to Michigan families. Wortz counts MGM Mirage among her clients.
Americans for Gaming Reform, created three weeks ago by Democratic consultant Peter Ragone of California, has launched a radio blitz in Detroit and bought full-page ads in Washington. He has declined to identify his financial backers.
"Much of the opposition is based upon greed," Miller said.
She and Dingell both likened the tactics to those used by Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist who helped block earlier Port Huron casino bills while being paid more than $14 million by the Saginaw Chippewa.
Mike Connell can be reached at (810) 989-6259 or mconnell@gannett.com.
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