The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee will mark up HR 21, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act of 2003, on Thursday at 10 a.m. EST.
Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, introduced the bill on Jan. 7.
A Washington, D.C. insider told Interactive Gaming News that the Leach bill is likely to pass the Financial Services Committee. The bill has also been refereed to the House Judicial Committee, but a markup has not yet been scheduled in that committee yet.
Leach proposed an almost identical bill during the last session of Congress; that bill passed the House by a voice vote. The session ended before the Senate could hear the bill.
HR 21 would make it illegal for an operator of an online gambling business to accept payment from a customer by bank instruments including credit cars and electronic fund transfers. The bill gives federal district courts the power to prevent or put a stop to violations of the proposed law. Violations of the bill, should it become law, could result in civil and criminal penalties.
Another congressman who introduced a bill last session that would have put an end to online gambling is Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. On Feb. 14 of this year, Goodlatte decided to hold off on introducing an I-gaming bill so that he can work to advance the Leach bill.
When Leach introduced his current bill on Jan. 7, he tried to draw parallels between Internet gambling and terrorism.
"These unregulated sites are a direct pipeline of dollars out of the United States into virtually unknown hands," he said. "This factor makes the financial services industry vulnerable to criminal and terrorist activity and American citizens vulnerable to identity theft and other personal scams."