01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 11, 2007

By John E. Mulligan

Journal Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy said yesterday that he has cautioned the Narragansett Indians against seeking repeal of the federal law that puts the tribe on the same footing as other would-be developers of high-stakes gambling in Rhode Island.

But Kennedy said he supports alternative ways to secure for the Narragansetts something that local gambling foes fear almost as much: the same sovereignty rights that other federally recognized tribes enjoy. Kennedy said, however, that he has advised the Narragansetts to find an approach that has the support of the state’s entire congressional delegation.

Finding that consensus could be a tall order for the Narragansetts, if early reaction from the local delegation is any indication. All three of Kennedy’s colleagues remain firmly opposed to the repeal of the law requiring the Narragansetts to hew to local and state law regarding casino gambling.

Rep. James R. Langevin, who represents the tribe and its neighbors in South County, added that he is inclined to oppose changes to the 29-year-old law, which secured the tribe its 1,800 acres of land, in return for the agreement to be bound by state and local law.

“The settlement act has served us well,” Langevin said of the 1978 law that settled the tribe’s court claims to ancestral land. He added that he believes most of his constituents would likewise oppose amendments to the federal law that would make the tribe immune from state and local law.

The tribe has struggled for more than a decade to alter the terms of the original land settlement, which has greatly complicated their efforts to reap economic benefits that other tribes enjoy under federal Indian gambling laws.

But Rhode Island opponents of a high-stakes gambling hall — and of such tribal enterprises as a low-tax smoke shop — have argued that the Narragansetts themselves agreed to an abridgement to full sovereignty when they agreed, in 1978, to forgo immunity from Rhode Island law.

Said Kennedy: “In principle, I support full sovereignty for the Narragansetts,” including repeal of a 1996 amendment, authored by Sen. John H. Chafee, that the late Republican viewed as a measure that closed a loophole in the federal gambling law. But the tribe viewed the Chafee amendment as taking away rights that the court decision recognized.

Kennedy said that, in practice, repeal of the Chafee measure is “politically untenable” because the rest of the Rhode Island delegation opposes it. He said the pursuit of a consensus alternative is in its early stages.

He spoke after meeting with the tribe’s Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, who did not answer telephone requests for comment.

jmulligan@belo-dc.com