WASHINGTON — Two members of Congress plan to send a strongly worded letter to the commissioner of the National Football League on Monday urging him to support changing the name of the Washington Redskins because it offends Native Americans and others, with one lawmaker saying she might reconsider the league’s tax-exempt status if it does not comply. 
 
 Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington State and chairwoman of the Indian Affairs Committee, said in an interview on Sunday that lawmakers would “definitely” examine the N.F.L.’s tax-exempt status and other ways to pressure the league. 
 
 “You’re getting a tax break for educational purposes, but you’re still embracing a name that people see as a slur and encouraging it,” Ms. Cantwell said. 
 
 In a copy of the letter released on Sunday, Ms. Cantwell and Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and a member of the Native American Caucus, chided the N.F.L. commissioner, Roger Goodell, for his recent remark that the name of the team, based near Washington, D.C., “honored” Native Americans. 
 
 “The N.F.L. can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur,” they said. 
 
 Mr. Goodell has been careful to say he is attentive to the concerns of those who disapprove of the name. But at a news conference before the Super Bowl last week, he said polls showed support, including among Native Americans, for keeping it. 
 
 “Let me remind you, this is the name of a football team, a football team that has had that name for 80 years and has presented the name in a way that has honored Native Americans,” he said. 
 
 Ms. Cantwell said those comments signaled that the N.F.L. had decided to defend the name, which organizations including the N.A.A.C.P. and the Anti-Defamation League oppose. 
 
 “I think they’ve been hearing from various tribal leaders, and we thought they were understanding this issue, but clearly this press conference shows that they don’t,” she said. 
 
 An N.F.L. spokesman said the league would not comment before receiving the letter. 
 
 But a spokesman for the Redskins took issue. “With all the important issues Congress has to deal with, such as a war in Afghanistan to deficits to health care, don’t they have more important issues to worry about than a football team’s name?” the spokesman, Tony Wyllie, wrote in an email. “And given the fact that the name of Oklahoma means ‘red people’ in Choctaw, this request is a little ironic.” 
 
 Taking a strong tone in their letter, Ms. Cantwell and Mr. Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, mentioned the N.F.L.’s tax-exempt status, which it has as a nonprofit trade organization. (The teams are not tax-exempt.) 
 
 “The National Football League is on the wrong side of history,” they wrote. “It is not appropriate for this multibillion-dollar 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization to perpetuate and profit from the continued degradation of tribes and Indian people.” 
 
 The letter also refers to a recent case, unrelated to the N.F.L., in which the Patent and Trademark Office rejected a trademark application that included the term “redskin” because, the office said, it is a “derogatory slang term.” Ms. Cantwell said Sunday that lawmakers would consider the roles of that office, the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies in urging the team to change its name. 
 
 Ten members of Congress sent a similar letter to Mr. Goodell in May after introducing a bill that would require the director of the Patent and Trademark Office to cancel any registration that used the term “redskin” in reference to Native Americans for commercial purposes. 
 
 In October, President Obama said that while he did not think fans were trying to offend Native Americans, if he owned the team he would consider renaming it. 
 
 The team’s owner, Daniel Snyder, has said he will not change the name. Days after Mr. Obama’s comments, Mr. Snyder wrote a letter to fans that talked about the values, traditions and pride associated with the name the team has borne since 1933. 
 
 “I’ve listened carefully to the commentary and perspectives on all sides, and I respect the feelings of those who are offended by the team name,” he said. “But I hope such individuals also try to respect what the name means, not only for all of us in the extended Washington Redskins family, but among Native Americans too.” ||||| 
 
 Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has said the team does not plan to change its name. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) 
 
 Two members of Congress have written a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell urging Goodell and the league “to take a formal position in support of a name change” by the Washington Redskins. 
 
 The letter by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) is to be sent Monday to Goodell. 
 
 “The NFL can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur,” Cantwell and Cole write in the letter. “It is clear that you haven’t heard the leading voices of this country — and not just Indian Country. Virtually every major civil rights organization in America has spoken out in opposition to this name including the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, the Rainbow Coalition and the League of United Latin American Citizens.” 
 
 The letter mentions the league’s tax-exempt status and says the league is “on the wrong side of history. It is not appropriate for this multibillion dollar … tax-exempt organization to perpetuate and profit from the continued degradation of tribes and Indian people. It is time for the National Football League to formally support and push for a name change for the Washington football team.” 
 
 Redskins spokesman Tony Wyllie responded in a written statement: “With all the important issues Congress has to deal with, such as a war in Afghanistan to deficits to health care, don’t they have more important issues to worry about than a football team’s name? And given the fact that the name of Oklahoma means ‘Red People’ in Choctaw, this request is a little ironic.” 
 
 Goodell said late last month at his annual news conference at the Super Bowl that the NFL was “listening” to and “being respectful” to those who have expressed opposition to the Redskins’ name. But Goodell also said during that Jan. 31 news conference in New York that the team has “honored” Native Americans with its use of the name. 
 
 “I’ve been spending the last year talking to many of the leaders in the Native American communities,” Goodell said then. “We are listening. We are trying to make sure we understand the issues. Let me remind you: This is the name of a football team, a football team that’s had that name for 80 years and has presented the name in a way that it has honored Native Americans.” 
 
 ● Related: Previous Insider posts on the team’s name 
 
 Cantwell and the committee have been talking to the league for several months. The letter comes after Goodell’s comments during his state-of-the-NFL address before the Super Bowl took a different tone than his previous statement on the issue. 
 
 Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and other team officials have said they don’t plan to change the name. 
 
 “We recognize that there are some that don’t agree with the name, and we have listened and respected that,” Goodell said at his Super Bowl week news conference. “But if you look at the numbers, including in the Native American communities — in the Native American community polled, nine out of 10 supported the name. Eight out of 10 Americans in the general population would not like us to change the name. So we are listening. We are being respectful to people who disagree. But let’s not forget this is the name of a football team.” 
 
 The letter is significant because each lawmaker has the perch to increase the public pressure on Snyder and the Redskins. 
 
 Cantwell is chairman of Senate Indian Affairs Committee, holding both the power to hold hearings and issue subpoenas. That panel helped drive the investigation into the felonious lobbying activities of Jack Abramoff and his associates, for fleecing tribal clients. 
 
 Cole is a very popular member on both sides of the aisle and a senior member of the appropriations committee, which has in the past been used as a battleground to impose Congress’s will on certain subjects. NASCAR and the Defense Department, for instance, have battled appropriators who’ve tried to limit the Pentagon’s ability to sponsor race cars and events. Cole, a member of the Chickasaw tribe, is one of just two Native Americans in Congress, according to the Congressional Research Service. 
 
 “Saying the Washington football team ‘honored Native Americans’ perpetuates a charade that dishonors native people and their governments and erodes the reputation of the National Football League,” they wrote to Goodell. “We believe that the fact that this term does not honor — but rather disparages — Indian people and tribes is what will and should guide federal policymakers.” 
 
 An NFL spokesman said the league will respond “in an appropriate manner” when it receives the letter. 
 
 NFL officials met in October with representatives of the Oneida Indian Nation, which has expressed opposition to the Redskins’ name. 
 
 The day before Goodell’s news conference in New York, DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, said it was appropriate for the sport’s leaders and interested parties to have a “broad discussion” about the team’s name. 
 
 “I grew up a Redskin fan and I grew up in Washington,” Smith told a Washington Post reporter after the union’s annual Super Bowl news conference. “And as we’ve said before, I think we’re in a better world if we’re not intentionally offending anyone. I think that any time we engage in a broad discussion, whether it be with fans or other interested parties about how to do our jobs better, and that might include the Redskin name, I think that’s positive.”
– The Washington Redskins' name is facing a new attack, this time from two members of Congress. Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, who heads the Indian Affairs Committee, tells the New York Times that if the NFL doesn't take action, legislators will "definitely" review the league's tax-exempt status. "You're getting a tax break for educational purposes, but you're still embracing a name that people see as a slur and encouraging it," says Cantwell. She and Republican Rep. Tom Cole, a Native American Caucus member, have today sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell condemning the name. Cole is one of two Native Americans on Capitol Hill, the Washington Post notes. "The National Football League can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur," the letter says, noting that "virtually every major civil rights organization in America has spoken out in opposition to this name." The lawmakers call on Goodell and the NFL to formally back a name change; though they aren't explicit about the league's 501(c)(6) status being in jeopardy in the letter, they do mention that status. A Redskins spokesman replies, via the Times: "With all the important issues Congress has to deal with, such as a war in Afghanistan to deficits to health care, don’t they have more important issues to worry about than a football team's name?" He adds: "Given the fact that the name of Oklahoma means 'red people' in Choctaw, this request is a little ironic."