Despite the fact that polls overwhelmingly show Americans want the team to keep their name.

Via Politico:

Two lawmakers are calling for the National Football League to back a name change for the Washington Redskins, saying the name is offensive to Native Americans.

“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,” wrote Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Indian Affairs Committee, and Rep. Tom Cole, member of the Native American Caucus, in a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell obtained by The New York Times.

“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,” they wrote in the letter, which they plan to send Monday.

The letter raises the teams status as a tax-exempt organization, saying that it is “not appropriate” for a tax-exempt group to “perpetuate and profit from the continued degradation of tribes and Indian people.”

It also mentions that the Patent and Trademark Office recently determined that the term “redskin” was a “derogatory slang term.”