Tie Vote Spells Defeat for Amendment to Help Banks Enforce UIGEA
June 27th, 2008
An amendment to develop new regulations to enforce the UIGEA was defeated on Wednesday in a tie vote in the House Committee on Financial Services. The amendment to the Payments System Protection Act H.R. 5767, offered by Rep. Peter King would have required the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System, in consultation with the Attorney General, to develop new regulations to implement the UIGEA that are less burdensome for U.S. financial services companies.
Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative said: "It is disappointing that the Republicans would turn their back on the credit unions and banks at a time when the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve says the proposed rules to enforce UIGEA are unworkable."
"Given the freedom of the Internet, it is foolhardy to impose the current regulations and force U.S. financial service companies to police for illegal activity. Rather than prohibit an activity millions of Americans enjoy to do in their homes, just as they can do in a casino, Congress should create a regulatory framework for Internet gambling as a way to protect consumers and collect billions in much-needed federal revenue that is currently lost in an underground, uncontrolled marketplace," he said.
Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with over one million members nationwide said: "The PPA is surprised that the Financial Services Committee today failed to clarify what constitutes ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The King Amendment would have required a separate formal rulemaking with an administrative law judge to determine the definition of unlawful Internet gambling."
"It is disappointing to realize that opponents of this legislation still do not truly understand the intent of the bill. It was clear today that those who oppose this bill chose to focus on emotional and non-germane issues, such as the harmful impact of gambling on children, instead of on the merits of the bill itself."
"As it stands, UIGEA is a completely unworkable and unenforceable bill that would do little to address the main concerns of its sponsors - namely, protecting underage and compulsive gamblers as well as cracking down on money laundering. To truly address these issues, the PPA firmly believes that Congress should implement thoughtful and effective regulation of the online gambling industry as opposed to outright prohibitions, which history has shown do not work."
"Unfortunately, debate over the morality of gambling trumped debate on the fact that UIGEA is completely ineffective and unenforceable," he said.
Comments to this post
