Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has refused to change the name

Three Virginia state lawmakers are forming a ''Redskins Pride Caucus'' to defend the Washington, D.C.-based football team that's come under pressure to change its name.

Last month, 50 U.S. senators sent a letter to the NFL urging it to change the name. And the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled last week that the Redskins name is disparaging to Native Americans and that the team should be stripped of federal trademark protection. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has refused to change the name.

Fairfax Democratic Sen. Chap Petersen, Manassas Republican Delegate Jackson Miller and Loudon Republican Delegate David Ramadan scheduled a news conference Monday at the Capitol to announce the caucus' formation.

In a news release, the lawmakers say their group would support ''commercial freedom'' in Virginia and oppose what they call Congress' ''inappropriate involvement'' in issues related to the Redskins.

Quote:The Washington Redskins name controversy involves the name and logo of the National Football League (NFL) franchise located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Numerous civil rights, educational, athletic, and academic organizations consider the use of Native American names and/or symbols by any sports teams to be a harmful form of ethnic stereotyping which should be eliminated.[1] The Washington team is only one example of the larger controversy but receives the most public attention due to the name itself being defined as derogatory or insulting in modern dictionaries, and the prominence of the team being located in the nation's capital.