The process for how casinos are approved is flawed, added Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He directed a tribal gaming official to produce written rules for navigating a complicated segment of tribal gaming law, though he did not give a deadline.

The senators' observations may help McCain's efforts to place more federal control over tribal gaming. He introduced two bills last year aimed at curbing construction of off-reservation casinos.

The Senate panel's hearing was held partly to hear about the Cowlitz's path to its proposed casino-resort on 152 acres near the Interstate 5-La Center junction. The tribe is seeking U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs approval to bring the land into federal trust, likely paving the way for a casino.

"I'm sure the case study of the Cowlitz could go on all day," Cantwell said toward the end of the two-hour hearing. "I'm not sure we like being in the limelight of this issue, but I do believe it is the case study."

McCain said he is mindful of tribal sovereignty as he considers possible gaming-law changes.

"I have been and remain a strong advocate of tribal sovereignty," he said, "but when you have 94 to 99 percent of patrons who are non-Indian (at tribal casinos), this puts a different cast on the entire issue."

McCain said he is concerned about tribes' attempts to build casinos -- once associated with rural locations on tribal reservations -- closer to densely populated urban areas.

In the Portland region, the Confederate Tribes of Warm Springs, which operate the Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort & Casino on their reservation, have proposed building an off-reservation casino and resort in Cascade Locks in the Columbia River Gorge. The Cowlitz, a landless tribe that achieved federal recognition in January 2002, have proposed that their casino site also serve as the location for tribal headquarters, a cultural center and senior housing.

McCain said he wants written rules to clarify Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, and he expressed surprise that such rules never have been drafted.

That section governs landless tribes that recently have achieved federal recognition -- such as the Cowlitz -- and the rules they must follow to establish a casino. Casino opponents have complained that Section 20 enables tribes to seek approval of key segments of their gaming application without public input.

George Skibine, director of the Office of Indian Gaming Management at the U.S. Department of the Interior, responding to McCain's request for written rules, said his office already had begun working to provide clarity for communities and lawmakers. Skibine is scheduled to preside later this month over two public meetings in Clark County providing information about the federal process and the Cowlitz application.

McCain chided Skibine and Penny Coleman, acting general counsel for the National Indian Gaming Commission, for the lack of public notice before the commission approved the Cowlitz gaming ordinance last year.

The approval, announced in November, is considered a key step in the process toward groundbreaking. The ruling included an endorsement of the Cowlitz tribe's contention that it has a legitimate historical presence at the proposed location.

The Clark County "community seems to have been caught completely off guard by your decision," McCain said. "Miss Coleman, what's going on here?"

Coleman, who wrote the opinion approving the Cowlitz ordinance, labeled the decision an "anomaly," as the tribe's application sought a ruling not only on gaming but on its historical claim to the land. Also, she said federal law provided only 90 days for an opinion after the application was submitted. In accordance with federal law, she said her office notified the Washington state attorney general during the process.

The senators also heard from Philip Harju, a Cowlitz tribal council member and a Thurston County deputy prosecuting attorney, and Al Alexanderson, a retired attorney who lives about 2,000 feet from the proposed Cowlitz casino site.