Perspective on Internet Gambling Hearing:

Enough Talk, We Need Congressional Action

Washington, DC – December 9, 2013 – Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, offered the following comments on tomorrow's hearing in the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade entitled The State of Online Gaming:

 

“We don’t need another hearing on the state of online gambling, we need Congress to stand up, take responsibility and vote on a bill to regulate a quickly growing industry. Multiple hearings in Congress have already demonstrated the need and opportunity for strict regulations to control Internet gambling activity and protect consumers beyond a poker only offering. 

 

Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have now taken the lead in defining how this new industry should be controlled, and each has adopted inconsistent rules for how to do so. Without congressional intervention, we’re guaranteed to have a nationwide patchwork of state rules that fail to protect all Americans and place caps on the industry’s potential.

 

Beyond the growing state-by-state rollout of Internet gambling activity, the only real change in the landscape is the more vocal protest against Internet gambling by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. While Adelson preaches the need for prohibition, I certainly hope clearer heads prevail and acknowledge his actions are purely driven by bottom-line greed to the detriment of what’s truly best for consumers.

 

It seems strange that a hearing on the state of online gambling would review the poker-only bill introduced by Rep. Barton, but not include the more comprehensive regulatory bill introduced by Reps. King and Capauno, a bill that offers more far reaching consumer protections and which has a referral to this subcommittee.

 

It’s time for Congress to stop kicking the can and take up legislation to properly regulate Internet gambling activity. Pending legislation, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Enforcement, and Consumer Protection Act of 2013, protects consumers, creates jobs, grows our economy and brings uniformity to the industry’s governance.

 

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.