[img_assist|nid=2010|title=U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=160|height=241]A bipartisan trio of U.S. Representatives from Nevada last week defeated a bill that would give two Native American tribes land in the suburbs of Detroit and Port Huron. Their reason for doing so, according to the Las Vegas Sun, was to protect the interests of the MGM Mirage corporation which has a hotel and casino outside of Detroit that it has spent over a billion dollars developing.

"The Nevada lawmakers' stunningly lopsided victory," Lisa Mascaro wrote in the Sun, showed "the far-flung efforts Nevada's representatives undertake on behalf of the home-state industry as gaming interests spread across the country."

The Nevada representatives -- Shelley Berkley (D-Las Vegas), Dean Heller(R-Carson City) and Jon Porter (R-Henderson) -- had opposed the bills at every turn. Heller had opposed it when it gone to the Natural Resources committee in February, and the others joined in during the months before the vote in the full House last week, according to the Sun.

By the time the final vote came, Berkley was standing outside the House chamber, handing out fliers in opposition to the bill and urging her colleagues to vote against it.

The final vote was 121-298.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, The MGM Mirage corporation and its employees is responsible for giving $157,450 to the current campaigns of the three, with Berkley receiving the most money ($79,000).