Proposal For Congressional Investigation

Published: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

PROPOSAL FOR CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION SUBMITTED

Nevada politicians introduce new bill to take a closer look at Internet gambling

Business interest in a legalised U.S. online gambling market continued this week with a survey released by the Pew Research Center showing that 70 percent of Americans think legalised gambling encourages people to gamble more than they can afford, up from 62 percent in 1989.

The survey followed a call by the American Gaming Association (AGA), the land casino industry's lobbying arm, for a Congressional investigation into this form of entertainment. The remarkable thing about the call is that the AGA has long been neutral toward Internet gambling.

And shortly after that: presto! - Nevada lawmakers introduced a bill last week calling for the study.

On the downside, however a House committee has passed (see previous Online-Casinos.com & InfoPowa reports) a pair of bills to further crack down on Internet gambling, and the full House is slated to take up the issue next month, assuming the legislators have enough time to debate the proposals at all this busy session. Even if a bill did get out of Congress, with just a little more than 30 days to go in the legislative session, there is some doubt that both the House and Senate will have sufficient time to confront the controversial issue with so many other pressing legislation on the political agenda.

"There are many who have concerns about the fact you have these illegal, unregulated, untaxed, offshore sites siphoning billions of dollars out of the country. This bill makes it clear that act is illegal," Rep. Bob Goodlatte said after his bill to ban Internet gambling passed out of the House Judiciary Committee.

"I'm anti-gambling. There are lots of reasons to be concerned about gambling. I know in Las Vegas they have a different perspective."

But Rep. Jon Porter, who with Rep. Shelley Berkley, introduced the bill to launch the congressional study requested by the AGA, said there are signs of support for it.

"It's an alternative for members of Congress to have, as opposed to the Goodlatte bill," said Porter spokesman T.J. Crawford. "We need to have a much better understanding before we make a decision as a Congress."

The AGA's white paper survey of Internet gamblers has shown that contrary to one perception of Internet gamblers as lonely and desperate people, they tend to be younger, more affluent and better-educated than gamblers who frequent land-based casinos.

"The American people clearly want to gamble on the Internet," said Frank Fahrenkopf of the American Gaming Association and a former national GOP chairman.

"The question is, what's the best way to protect them? Is it better to have them offshore or would it be better to license, regulate and tax them here? That's what (a study commission) should look at."

Land giant MGM Mirage says the time has come for Internet gambling to be regulated by states similar to land-based casinos - and be taxed, providing a lucrative revenue stream for the states.

A Congress-authorised study that shows how Internet gambling can be regulated effectively could persuade state governments to legalise the practice, said MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman.

"The current situation makes no sense. There's no enforcement, there's no protection for consumers."