NC Family Staff | November 30, 2020 | SHARE: 
Two bills currently working their way through the U.S. Congress could bring massive tribal gambling casinos to North Carolina, making our state the Gambling Capital of the East. Your help is needed NOW!
ACTION NEEDED!
Please contact the Washington D.C. offices of NC’s Senators:
Richard Burr: (202) 224-3154
Thom Tillis: (202) 224-6342
And urge them to:
(1) Oppose S.790 that would allow the South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation to build a massive gambling casino in North Carolina just west of Charlotte. (More information below)
(2) Amend H.R. 1964 to expressly prohibit the Lumbee Indian Tribe from gambling should the U.S. Congress grant full federal recognition to the Tribe. (More information below)
CATAWBA CASINO on Interstate 85 in Central North Carolina:
The South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation has tried for years to establish Las Vegas-style casino gambling in South Carolina, but these efforts consistently have been denied by the S.C. legislature. In response, the Catawba Nation has engaged in an illegitimate effort to “reservation shop” and purchase land for a Las Vegas-style gambling casino in North Carolina.
S.790, sponsored by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), would authorize the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to take a specified tract of land in Cleveland County, NC into trust on behalf of the South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation, and would expressly authorize the Catawba Indian Nation to “own and operate a gaming facility” on this land.
As NC Family reported in March, the Department of the Interior has already taken this land into trust on behalf of the Catawba Nation, but that action has caused much controversy and led to a federal lawsuit filed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The passage of S.790 would essentially cement the gambling casino deal and allow the Catawba Indian Nation to build an estimated 200,000-plus square foot gambling casino along the I-85 corridor in Kings Mountain just 35 miles west of Charlotte.
The week before Thanksgiving, S.790 was approved by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and is on its way to the Senate floor. Although North Carolina’s U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis have signed on as cosponsors of this bill, they need to hear from you!
LUMBEE CASINO on Interstate 95 in Eastern North Carolina:
For decades, the Lumbee Indian Tribe of Eastern North Carolina has been seeking full federal recognition by the U.S. Congress. Not only would this congressional designation make tribal members eligible for hundreds of millions in federal funding for housing, education, health care and other services, it would also—without an express prohibition—authorize the Lumbee Tribe to pursue gambling operations on tribal lands in Eastern North Carolina. In almost every congressional term since 2007, and as recently as 2017-18, the Lumbee Tribe has consented to the inclusion of language in the Lumbee Recognition Act prohibiting the tribe from gambling should Congress grant the tribe full federal recognition.
The week before Thanksgiving, the U.S. House approved H.R. 1964—Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Recognition Act, and the bill now resides in the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Unfortunately, H.R. 1964 does not currently include language expressly prohibiting the Tribe from conducting gambling activities as a part of full federal recognition, as have previous versions of the bill.
(For clarification: NC Family does not oppose full federal recognition for the Lumbee Indian Tribe, but we do oppose the myriad of harms that gambling expansion would have on individuals, families, and communities in our state, and we urge Congress to amend H.R. 1964 to include gambling prohibition language.)
More Information on the Dangers of Gambling
Meet Jolene | Behind Every Issue is a Person
Gambling Expansion Efforts Continue in North Carolina
