| Bill Summary | This bill would prohibit Internet gambling businesses from accepting the following payment methods from customers: credit cards, electronic fund transfers, any instrument drawn by or on behalf of another and payable through any financial institution and the proceeds of any other form of financial transaction involving a financial institution as payer or financial intermediary for another. | Bill Status | HR 21 was introduced by Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, on the first day of the 108th session of Congress, which was Jan. 8, 2003. The bill is virtually the same as HR 556, which Leach introduced last year. HR 556 was passed in the House by a voice vote, but it did not go to a vote in the Senate and thus died. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, says that HR 21 is a priority for his committee this year. HR 556 was the second attempt by Leach to prohibit Internet gambling by making it nearly impossible for Americans to pay for it. The bill was introduced in February, 2001, by Leach but was revisited in the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, which was proposed by Oxley and Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y. A response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, that bill aimed to squash money-laundering opportunities for terrorists. Leach's bill against online gambling was included in the anti-terrorism legislation. After being discussed by the House Financial Services Committee, the anti-terrorism bill was fast-tracked without the Internet gambling provisions and approved by the full House on Oct. 17, 2001. On Oct. 31, 2001, the Internet gambling section was reconsidered and approved by the committee by a vote of 34 to 18. HR 556 was discussed on Nov. 29, 2001, along with HR 3215 at a legislative session of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime. On Dec. 13, 2001, the House Committee on Judiciary granted an extension for further consideration of the HR 556 no later than Dec. 21, 2001; on Dec. 20, 2001, the same committee granted another extension for consideration of the bill ending on March 29, 2002. On Jan. 29, 2002, LaFalce and Oxley testified before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. They told the committee that online gambling and credit card fraud are terrorists' key money laundering methods. On Feb. 5, 2002, Leach, Oxley and LaFalce sent a letter to members of the House asking them to support and consider co-sponsoring HR 556. In the letter, the authors ask House members to support their bill over other proposals that have been introduced to ban Internet gambling, most notably, Rep. Bob Goodlatte's bill. In early September of 2002, elements of Goodlatte's bill were implanted into Leach's bill, essentially putting the two legislators on the same team regarding Internet gambling. In May this bill was reported favorably to the full House by the Judiciary Committee. However, the Committee voted to amend the bill in a way that many industry experts say could stop the bill in its tracks. The amendment, proposed by Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, removes the bill's carve-outs for horse racing, dog racing, lotteries and casino games. The lack of those carve-outs means that those affected industries could withdraw their support for the bill. | Outlook | The Justice Department has stated its disapproval of the bill; Rep. Spencer Bacchus' bill, HR-2143, was adopted instead.
| | S-627 | Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act
| | Bill Summary | Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., on March 17 introduced a bill that would ban Internet gambling. The bill, S. 627, is very similar to the bill that was proposed by Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a press release, Kyl said he is opposed to Internet gambling because he believes it exacerbates the problem of gaming addiction, funds criminal activities, targets children and has the potential for fraud. "Internet gambling is not a fun diversion, but feeds a dangerous and growing addiction," Kyl said. "It is linked to organized crime, rife with fraud, ruins credit ratings, and allows many young people to build up thousands of dollars in debt on their parents' credit cards."| Bill Status | The bill was unanimously voted out of the Senate Banking Committee last year and on Oct. 27 was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. The bill never received a reading by the Senate, however, and died when the legislative session ended. Kyl has introduced the bill again this year.
| | Outlook | Though Senator Kyl would tell you otherwise, most people believe the bill has no chance of passing during an election year.
| | HR-1223 | Internet Gambling Licensing and Regulation Commission Act
| | Bill Summary | Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., introduced this bill on March 12. Called the Internet Gambling Licensing and Regulation Act, the bill is a reprisal of the legislation he introduced late in the last Congressional session. When announcing his bill, Conyers compared the prohibition of Internet gambling with the U.S. prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s. "Today, Congress is rushing to pass a similar ill-conceived prohibition of Internet gambling," Conyers said. "Gaming prohibitionists believe they can stop the millions of Americans who gamble online by prohibiting the use of credit cards to gamble on the Internet. Just as outlawing alcohol did not work in the 1920s, current attempts to prohibit online gaming will not work, either." | Bill Status | The bill has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee.
| | Outlook | Bills that would prohitit Internet gambling are gaining much momentum in the Congress, and Washington insiders say it is unlikely that this bill will be marked up by the House Financial Services Committee. However, the bill was discussed, but not voted on, during the Judiciary Committee's markup on the Leach Internet gambling bill.
| | HR-2143 | Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act
| | Bill Summary | This bill was introduced on May 19 in the House Financial Services Committee. It is basically the same bill as HR 21, except that it lacks the civil and criminal penalties set forth in that bill. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., introduced the bill to compete with the version of HR 21 that the Judiciary Committee passed on May 14, which was amended to strike away all exceptions for various gambling industries including horse racing and lotteries. | | Bill Status | On May 20, the Judiciary Committee voted to report this bill favorably to the full House. Since it has no civil and criminal penalties, it will no be heard by the Judiciary Committee. A source who spoke with Interactive Gaming News on the condition of not having his name used said the chairman of the Financial Services Committee would like to see this version of the bill pass the full House and the Senate. If that happens, he said, then the penalties can be added back in during a conference between members of both Congressional bodies. On June 10, after hours of debate, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 2143 by a vote of 300-104. A key amendment that would have effectively killed the bill was narrowly defeated. The amendment, introduced by Jim Sensenbrenner, R. Wis., would have removed carve-outs for racing, state lotteries and other interests. On June 11, the bill was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
| | Outlook | The Senate may rather take up the Kyl Internet gambling bill, which would have similar consequences as the Bachus bill.
| | | | |