U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's effort to attach prohibitive online gambling legislation to the FY 2007 Defense Department Conference Report (DCR 07) has yet to materialize. The conference committee on the Department of Defense (DOD) authorization bill reportedly removed "Leach-type language" from the bill.
A source close to IGN said he expects Frist, R-Tenn., to continue pressuring legislators to amend the bill, making use of provisions introduced by Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, which target U.S. based banks, credit card companies and other Internet payment systems, prohibiting them from making payments to online gambling companies.
Frist's campaign has allegedly drawn criticism from House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, who insists the only acceptable provision would be one similar or identical to the House-passed bill (HR 4411), the source said.
As it stands, the source indicated, the House-passed bill is considered unacceptable by the horse racing industry and, by extension, several key senators, thereby making it "difficult, but not impossible," for Frist to piggyback his prohibitive online gambling legislation onto the DOD bill.