Congress Moving Closer To Repeal Of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act will be moving one step closer to being non existent on Tuesday. A Bill to repeal the UIGEA is set for mark up on Tuesday, an important step in the legal process.

Representative Barney Frank and Ron Paul introduced H.R.5767 back on April 11th, 2008. The Bill's purpose would be to repeal the UIGEA and to begin the process of protecting the millions of Americans that are currently wagering online.

"Congress has studied the issue and heard from the financial services community and federal regulators that the current ban on Internet gambling is burdensome and doomed to fail. Now it is time for Congress to change course and find a way to protect the millions of Americans that are continuing to gamble online," said spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, Jeffrey Sandman.

When financial institutions sent representatives to speak at a hearing, they were unified in the thought that it would be a difficult, if not impossible project for them to try and police themselves. The vagueness of the UIGEA would also damage the ability of financial institutions to enforce the restrictions.

The U.S. government might be loosening their grip on the issue after watching other country's successfully regulate the online gambling industry. With the billion dollar industry thriving, and the U.S. economy faltering, regulation seems like a logical solution.

Bill H.R. 5767 would stop the Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve System from implementing any regulations related to the current ban. Once that has been accomplished, members of Congress will then move to have the online gambling industry regulated in a way that would bring millions of dollars to the government.

The mark up phase on Tuesday is an important one. This is when the Bill will be reviewed and put into the language that the Bill will be presented in.

June 20, 2008
Posted By Bob Hartman
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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