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Senecas speak out against PACT Act
U.S. passes bill that bans mailing of cigarettes
Published : Saturday, 13 Mar 2010, 6:56 PM EST BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - It's called the P.A.C.T Act, which stands for "prevent all cigarette trafficking".
But Indian nations argue this bill, that's now one step closer to becoming law, intrudes on their sovereignty and prevents them from making money.
In a unanimous vote, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would ban the mailing of cigarettes.
The Seneca Indians said this could mean a loss of sales for their $300-million mail order business.
J.C. Seneca of the tribal council said, "What it really does for us here in Seneca Nation, we'll lose thousands of jobs and the state will use millions of dollars."
Seneca also explained that if this bill is signed into law by President Obama, as many as 1,000 local tobacco jobs could go up in smoke.
"A lot of these jobs that are lost are jobs of non-Indians, non-Senecas that work for our businesses, and these people are affected," he stated.
Lawmakers contend this bill will prevent children from easily using borrowed or stolen credit cards to purchase cigarettes online.
"We don't want children to have cigarettes. There are ways and we have laws in effect to restrict the sale of cigarettes to people of a certain age," J.C. Seneca remarked. "For them to say this bill is for them to make sure cigarettes don't get to the wrong people is rhetoric from D.C. politician, I see."
And even though Indians don't pay state taxes on the cigarettes bought, J.C. Seneca claims a settlement agreement from years ago, still allows states to benefit from Indian cigarette sales.
He commented, "The state's get money for that. I can't remember off hand but it adds up to millions and millions of dollars."
He also pointed out the nations largest tobacco company, Phillip Morris, spent a lot of money lobbying Congress for the bill, in an attempt to stomp out smaller competition.
Until the bill becomes law, the Seneca's say they will continue their fight to keep things as the are.
"We're used to this. We deal with this on the daily basis. We'll continue to fight and strive to succeed and carry our message to whoever will listen. That's what we'll do, and continue to protect the rights and treaties of our people," J.C. exclaimed.
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/new_york/Senecas-speak-out-against-PACT-Act |
