Ten members of Congress sent a letter to Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, urging him to change the name of the franchise as it is considered offensive to many Native Americans. Dan Snyder has flat out refused. Snyder is also being threatened with a bill that would result in a trademark loss, but he won't change his mind.

The Congressmen, which includes the co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus, gave their explanation for the proposal in the letter, according to Sports World News:

"Native Americans throughout the country consider the 'R-word' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word' among African Americans or the 'W-word' among Latinos. Such offensive epithets would no doubt draw wide-spread disapproval among the NFL's fan base. Yet the national coverage of Washington's NFL football team profits from a term that is equally disparaging to Native Americans."

Dan Snyder responded to the letter with strong words.

"We will never change the name of the team," Snyder told USA Today Sports.

"As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season," he continued, according to Newsmax.

Additionally, legislation proposed to Congress by Eni F.H. Faleomavaega of American Samoa would attempt to cancel all trademark registrations which use the word "redskins," Newsmax reports.

If the bill was to pass and the Redskins were to lose their trademark for the team, the franchise would lose a significant amount of money, as well as the NFL itself, according to the Atlantic Wire.

If the trademark protection was lost, this would also mean that anyone could sell Redskins merchandise without repercussion.

Though the Redskins trademark is being threatened, Snyder will not budge.

"We'll never change the name," Snyder told USA Today. "It's that simple. NEVER - you can use caps."

Most fans agree with the Redskins owner. According to an AP poll, 79 percent of Americans believe the Redskins should not change their name, the Atlantic Wire reports.

Even the recently retired chief of the Fredericksburg-area Patawomeck Tribe, Robert Green, doesn't want the team to change their name. He added that he would find it offensive if the Redskins did change their name, as he says the origin of the word was not meant to be racist, he said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, The Washington Post reports.