House passes tribal casino bill one week after Trump urged GOP to oppose it
By Felicia Sonmez May 15 at 4:36 PM
The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that will pave the way for a new Massachusetts tribal casino, one week after President Trump urged lawmakers to vote against the measure, which is opposed by a key White House ally.
The bill, H.R. 312, passed on a 275-to-146 vote, with 47 Republicans crossing party lines to join all but two Democrats present in voting in favor.
It would confirm the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s sovereignty over 321 acres of land, including the Taunton, Mass., site eyed for the casino project.
The bill, co-sponsored by more than a dozen Democrats and six Republicans, was scheduled for a House vote last week under expedited procedures requiring a two-thirds majority to pass, reflecting its broad support. But in a tweet that blindsided lawmakers of both parties, Trump urged Republicans to oppose the measure, which he sought to tie to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
“Republicans shouldn’t vote for H.R. 312, a special interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas) Warren,” Trump declared in the tweet, using a nickname he has frequently deployed to deride the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. “It is unfair and doesn’t treat Native Americans equally!”
Warren co-sponsored a similar 2018 bill introduced by Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), but there is no Senate legislation pertaining to the tribe pending in the current Congress.
The potential Mashpee casino site is not far from two Rhode Island casinos run by Twin River Worldwide Holdings, a public company with strong Trump ties. The company has hired American Conservative Union Chairman Matthew Schlapp, a vocal Trump supporter, to lobby for it on the land issue. Schlapp’s wife, Mercedes, is director of strategic communications at the White House.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-passes-tribal-casino-bill-one-week-after-trump-urged-gop-to-oppose-it/2019/05/15/fe592d16-7725-11e9-bd25-c989555e7766_story.html?utm_term=.c65fd1756fe3
DO SOMETHING!
| 