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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release May 20, 1994

                 PRESIDENT NAMES HAROLD A. MONTEAU
         AS CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION
              AND LACY THORNBURG AS ASSOCIATE MEMBER

        President Clinton today announced his intent to nominate Harold

A. Monteau, an attorney and member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Montana, to be Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, and the appointment of Lacy H. Thornburg, former attorney general for the State of North Carolina, to serve as an associate member of the commission. Both appointments are for three year terms.

The President also said that Michael Cox, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma, will continue to serve as general counsel to the Commission.

Mr. Monteau, whose appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate, is a partner in a Montana law firm that specializes in federal law affecting Indian tribes. From 1991 to the present, he has served on the Secretary of the Interior's Task Force on Bureau of Indian Affairs Reorganization. He earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico, a masters degree in education from the University of South Dakota, and a B.S. from Eastern Montana College. He makes his home in Great Falls. Upon confirmation, he will replace Tony Hope whose term has expired.

Thornburg was Attorney General for the State of North Carolina 1985-1993, was a State Superior Court Judge 1967-1983, and was elected to three terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives 1961-1966. Born in Charlotte, N.C., Thornburg earned his B.A. and J.D. at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He resides in Webster, N.C.

Cox, who has served as general counsel since the commission's inception in 1990, was in the Solicitors Office at the Department of the Interior for the previous 10 years. He earned his law degree at the University of Virginia and a B.A. at the University of Oklahoma.

The Commission was established in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 to help regulate gaming on Indian trust lands. It monitors class II gaming (primarily bingo and some card games) on Indian land, inspects premises where class II gaming is operated, conducts background investigations, and has broad powers to audit records relating to gross revenues from such gaming. The commission also approves contracts between tribes and operators for both Class II and Class III (casino-type) gaming.

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