For Immediate Release
Contact: Michael Waxman
(202) 872-0010 or (202) 872-4860
Key Congressional Committee Reaches Stalemate on New
Regulations to Enforce Internet Gambling Ban
Republicans Said ‘No’ to Amendment Helping Credit Unions, Banks
(Washington, D.C. – June 25, 2008) – An amendment to develop new regulations to
enforce the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was defeated
today 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 (R-N.Y.),
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
UIGEA that are less burdensome for U.S. financial services companies.
“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,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the
Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “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.”
The King amendment responded to concerns raised by U.S. financial services
companies about the burden and ambiguity in the proposed rules to implement UIGEA.
The updated bill would have required federal regulators to adopt formal rulemaking
processes to define unlawful Internet gambling activities, to create a list of unlawful
Internet gambling businesses, and to conduct an economic impact study on the costs for
compliance. The bill would have also forced the agencies to take into consideration the
Paperwork Reduction Act and Regulatory Flexibility Act, current laws the proposed rules
to enforce UIGEA failed to address.
Rep. Frank stated before the Committee on Financial Services that Congress is putting
the U.S. financial services industry at risk by not clarifying the regulations to enforce
UIGEA and defining unlawful Internet gambling activities. “Hijacking the financial
payment system at a time when it is under major stress and giving them the job of
carrying out an unclear mandate doesn’t make sense.”
Representatives of the U.S. financial services industry, including the Chamber of
Commerce, The Financial Services Roundtable, Credit Union National Association, and
National Association of Federal Credit Unions, pledged their support for the Payments
System Protection Act and King amendment in letters to Rep. Frank and members of the
Committee on Financial Services.
“I wish to be clear that we do not support the notion that financial services companies
should be ‘deputized’ to police gambling activity in any form or function,” wrote Mr. Steve
Barlett, president and CEO of The Financial Services Roundtable. “While we would
support the passage of H.R. 5767 as introduced, I agree that the King Amendment
makes essential improvements to a deeply flawed law and therefore support its
inclusion.”
Concerns about the impact of UIGEA were also raised by the Americans for Tax Reform
(ATF) and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) in a letter to members of the Committee
on Financial Services, which said that “if implemented as proposed in current
regulations, UIGEA would have a number of serious, negative consequences for the
nation’s economy.”
Concerns about the proposed rules to implement UIGEA were previously raised at a
congressional hearing on April 2, 2008 (“Proposed UIGEA Regulations: Burden without
Benefit?”) and in hundreds of comments submitted to the Department of the Treasury
and Federal Reserve System. Representatives of the Department of the Treasury and
Federal Reserve System acknowledged at the hearing the challenges U.S. financial
institutions will face in attempting to comply with UIGEA.
Last year, Rep. Frank introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act
(H.R. 2046) that would establish a regulatory and enforcement framework for licensed
gambling operators to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the U.S. It includes a
number of built-in consumer protections, including safeguards against compulsive and
underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identity theft. States would also have
the right to control what, if any, level of Internet gambling is permissible within their
borders and could apply additional taxes and restrictions.
A companion piece of legislation to the Frank bill introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott (DWash.),
the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2008 (H.R. 5523), would ensure the collection of taxes on regulated Internet gambling activities.
According to a tax revenue analysis prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, taxation of
regulated Internet gambling is expected to generate between $8.7 billion to $42.8 billion
in federal revenues over its first 10 years.
About Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative
The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative promotes the freedom of individuals to gamble online with the proper safeguards to protect consumers and ensure the integrity of financial transactions. For more information on the Initiative, please visit www.safeandsecureig.org. The Web site provides a means by which individuals can register support for regulated Internet gambling with their elected representatives.
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