A U.S. senator says she will introduce a bill to eliminate the NFL's tax-exempt status because the league has not taken action over the Washington Redskins name.
The announcement by Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington state was one of several initiatives presented Tuesday during a Capitol Hill news conference aimed at increasing pressure on Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
"The NFL enjoys its nonprofit tax status granted by the government. In the next few days, I will drop legislation to end that status," Cantwell announced.
The "Change the Mascot'' campaign also said it was sending a letter to the other 31 NFL team owners asking them to use their "position of authority'' to end the league's "promotion of a dictionary-defined racial slur.''
Some speakers linked the issue to the NFL's handling of recent incidents involving domestic violence and child abuse. Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter said they were symptomatic of the league's "moral arrogance.''
"It's a very incidious form of racism to ignore people of color when we speak on an issue as though we don't exist," Halbritter said.
A spokesperson for the Redskins issued the following statement Tuesday:
"Our position remains consistent with more than 80 percent of Americans who do not want to change the Washington Redskins name."
