For Immediate Release

Contact: Affie Ellis

202-632-7003

Statement of NIGC Chairman Hogen On the Death of Former Chairman Anthony J. "Tony" Hope

Washington, DC, July 7, 2004 - The following is a statement by National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Phil Hogen upon learning that former NIGC Chairman Anthony J. "Tony" Hope died on June 28, 2004.

"As the first Chairman of the NIGC, Tony helped lay a strong foundation for the regulation of Indian gaming. When Chairman Hope undertook his appointment, he was called upon to do what few leaders are required to do these days - start a new Federal agency. He and that first Commission embarked on uncharted waters and they wisely set up a mechanism that minimized complex procedure and maximized substance. The structure for the regulatory framework they helped establish has fostered the phenomenal success Indian gaming has had in bringing economic development to many Indian reservations that were previously poverty-stricken."

"The Indian gaming industry will miss Tony Hope and the National Indian Gaming Commission expresses our sympathy to his family and friends."

In 1990, Mr. Hope was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to serve as the first Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. He held this position for five years.

The NIGC is an independent regulatory agency established within the Department of the Interior pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.