Hello Senator,

Once again I am appalled at the audacity of this tribe to strip away our rights as United States citizens, and that is our "right to vote"!! It looks like with the liberal government we have in power today, the Narragansetts may have a chance at getting their casino. Such a move would not only destroy the town of Charlestown, but also the nearby neighboring towns. There will not be any tax relief from a casino to these towns, it will have an opposite effect. There will be a tremendous burden placed upon the public safety departments of all the towns.

Now if we would like to talk about how the Narragansetts acquired their last properties off of Kings Factory Road, ask the engineering firm of Gilbert and Blackwell of Wakefield. They were brought into federal court by the Narragansetts--their litigation fees paid by the BIA--under the auspices of protecting "sacred ceremonial and burial grounds. The court battle lasted so long and was so expensive that it nearly bankrupted Gilbert and Blackwell. After running out of funds and near bankruptcy the engineering firm agreed to sell their property to the Narragansetts for pennies on the dollar.

Shortly after acquiring the "sacred ceremonial and burial grounds", the Narragansetts then started with bulldozers to desecrate the land and stripping it of its foliage. The tribe then received millions to build their low-income and elderly housing project; all taxpayer's money. The project fell short of completion due to the fact that it ran out of money. It would be nice to see where all that Federal funding went!!?? The only requirement that I know of in reference to bookkeeping of the Federal funds is that "some form of bookkeeping" be in place! I would like to know how much money in Federal funds the Narragansett tribe received for this project and just where and how it was spent? I suspect that the costs for this project would far supersede any of the prices set on the space projects that this country so lucratively funds.

Furthermore perhaps it would be good if the taxpayers of Charlestown and the surrounding towns were to get together and purchase the Narragansett Indian tribe's land to be held in trust by the federal government for their sole discretion and usage. See where that idea goes and how popular that idea is! This is the good ole boy network at its finest, fueled by capitalism at its finest and economics dictating policy. It is important to remember that there is not any money to be made with gambling! If one feels that gambling is good for the community, then perhaps it would be good for them to talk with the people who live in Ledyard, Connecticut.