| | | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
For Immediate Release:
Friday, October 13, 2006
| Contacts:
Sarah Morgan
(202) 226-0471
Peggy Peterson
(202) 226-0471
|
|
President Bush Enacts Leach Internet Gambling Law
This morning, the President signed legislation that would prevent the use of credit cards and fund transfers for unlawful Internet gambling and block financial transactions associated with illegal gambling.
The bill was approved by the House on September 30 by a vote of 409 to 2. Similar legislation was first introduced in the 106th Congress by then Banking and Financial Services Committee Chairman James A. Leach (IA), and has been approved by the House in the past two Congresses.
Language included in the Conference Report for H.R. 4954, the SAFE Port Act, reflects the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, H.R. 4411, which was approved in the House on July 11, by a vote of 317-93.
Rep. Leach said, “By cutting the flow of money from gamblers to Internet casinos, this measure gives federal and state authorities tools to thwart a destructive and illegal activity plaguing American families and posing a threat to our national security. Unlike brick-and-mortar casinos in the U.S., where legal protections for bettors exist and where there are some compensatory social benefits in jobs and tax revenues, Internet gambling sites yield only liabilities to America and to Americans. If Congress had not acted, gamblers would soon have been able to place bets not just from home computers, but from their cell phones while they drive home from work or their Blackberries as they wait in line at the movies.”
At a hearing before the Financial Services Committee, former FBI Director Robert Mueller called Internet gambling a significant vehicle for money laundering, especially problematic in the post September 11th environment. This view is supported by a Government Accountability Office report which stated that large sums of money laundering proceeds can be moved rapidly through Internet gambling websites in order to obscure their origins.
Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael G. Oxley (OH) said, “The ratification of this law is a win for American families. It will keep kids and problem gamblers out of the Internet casinos that infiltrate their daily lives, while protecting all of us from the horrifying effects of money laundering and terrorist financing. I commend the tireless efforts of my colleagues Reps. Leach and Bachus to see this legislation through the past three Congresses to becoming law and I applaud the House for its work.”
Unlike bricks-and-mortar casinos in the United States that provide jobs and tax revenues, Internet gambling sites yield no benefits to Americans. Easy access and lack of law enforcement give the U.S. public a misimpression that Internet gambling is legal. The result is widespread gambling by minors and young adults, and addiction-forming behavior by gamblers of all ages. Currently there are more than 2,300 online gambling sites.
Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus (AL) said, “Some claim illegal Internet gambling is a victimless crime. In fact, the very real victims of illegal Internet gambling are underage gamblers, who are by the tens of thousands becoming compulsive, addictive gamblers. It is a mushrooming epidemic, leaving in its wake suicides, crime, and financial and family tragedies.”
Internet gambling’s characteristics are unique: online players can gamble 24 hours a day from home; children may play without sufficient age verification; and betting with a credit card can undercut a player’s perception of the value of cash, leading to addiction, bankruptcy, and crime.
Internet gambling legislation has been endorsed by the religious community, family groups, financial services groups, all the major professional sports organizations, and 48 states’ attorneys general.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act would:
Preserve the right of states to regulate gambling that occurs solely within state borders;
Cut off the flow of money to Internet gambling websites by regulating payment systems;
Authorize state and federal law enforcement to seek injunctions against persons who facilitate illegal Internet gambling; and
Advance international cooperation in law enforcement efforts against illegal gambling and related money laundering.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act does not change the law: nothing that is illegal will be made legal, and nothing that is legal will be made illegal. It provides law enforcement and private parties, such as credit card companies, with new enforcement tools that will prohibit illegal Internet gambling transactions even when the websites are operated offshore.
# # #
|
|  | |  |  |
|
| | |  | House Committee on Financial Services
2129 Rayburn H.O.B. | Washington, D.C. 20515 | (202) 225-7502 |  |
|
|
|
