| Markup for U.S Internet Gambling Bill Announced |
Congressman Barney Frank's HR 2267 bill to regulate internet gambling in the U.S. is scheduled for markup on Tuesday 27th July, along with five other bills.Bill HR 2267, which was introduced last May, is due to be further discussed, amended and re-written this coming Tuesday, in an attempt to appease all those against it. If passed, each state will be allowed to decide whether they want to regulate internet gambling in their jurisdiction.
On Wednesday seventy co-sponsors of bill HR2267 gathered at a House Financial Services Committee to comment on the positive benefits of Barney Frank's proposed regulation of internet gambling in the U.S.
Amongst the co-sponsors, professional poker player Annie Duke talked about the benefits for licensing online poker for both governments and American poker players, of which she claims there are around 70 million who want to “...play on sites licensed in the United States, which will provide for even greater consumer protections for the player and yield badly-needed tax revenue for state and federal governments.”
In fact, the Joint Committee on Taxation claimed that regulation is anticipated to make around $42 billion (£27.2b) for federal governments within only ten years and approximately $30 billion (£19.5b) in new state revenues. This is in addition to the predicted 32,000jobs which could be created in the first five years of the bill being passed.
Republican Congressman John Campbell said: “I don't gamble. I don't partake in it, but freedom is not about legislating what I like to do. Freedom is about allowing Americans to do what they want to do.”
Duke further commented: “HR2267 provides this freedom in a safe and regulated environment and I urge everyone on this Committee to support this common sense policy. However you might feel about gambling on the internet, I would suggest that gambling with freedom is far more risky.”
Ed Williams, one of the directors of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), said that he thought the bill would: “...promote regulatory simplicity while assisting financial institutions compliance with UIGEA (unlawful internet gambling enforcement act).”
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