WASHINGTON -- Tribes must gain federal recognition before they can run gambling businesses, but leaders of a state with the two largest Indian casinos complained Wednesday that the recognition process is corrupt and dysfunctional.

However, a deputy inspector general for the Interior Department defended the agency's handling of tribal applications as "one of the more transparent processes" in the department.

The debate before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee highlighted the continuing controversy of tribal recognition and the effect of Indian casinos on local communities.

"I think the recognition process is corrupt and has been for years," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn.

Shays' comments came in the latest in a series of hearings by the committee on Indian gaming. Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has signaled he may seek to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

"The role that gaming and its nontribal backers have played in the recognition process has increased perceptions that it is unfair if not corrupt," McCain said.

Connecticut is home to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, which is run by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe and is billed as the largest casino in the world; and the Mohegan Sun, a casino in Uncasville operated by the Mohegan tribe.

Wealthy businessmen such as Donald Trump are paying other tribes to apply for federal recognition so they can open new casinos, said Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn.

"They have seen that the Foxwoods Casino and the Mohegan Sun casino can generate literally billions of dollars because of their location in a small, densely populated state in New England between Boston and New York," Simmons said. "It's a perfect market."

But traffic congestion and other problems caused by casinos are hurting local communities, according to Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican.

Other Connecticut officials who testified against the recognition process were Sens. Chris Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, both D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn.

Mary Kendall, deputy inspector general for the Interior Department, said tribes must take greater care when they are approached by unsavory Indian gaming lobbyists.

Since 1988, when Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, there have been 191 applications from tribes seeking federal recognition, according to Lee Fleming, the Interior Department's director of federal acknowledgment in the office of Indian Affairs.