Gambling
Foes Plan Legislative Move
Supporters of an Internet gambling
ban may try this week to add the prohibition
to lobbying reform legislation on the Senate
floor.
Sen.
Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., on Tuesday, said he may offer
an online wagering ban amendment as early as
today.
Online
gambling revenues reached $10.9 billion in 2005,
according to the research firm eMarketer. The
exact number of gambling Web sites is uncertain,
but the total is believed much higher than the
1,800 that existed in 2000.
Kyl,
who has been trying to outlaw Internet gambling
for more than a decade, was asked if the industry
may have become too large and powerful to be
banned.
"That
is a concern," he said.
Meanwhile,
Kyl has gained a Democratic ally -- Sen. Mark
Pryor of Arkansas -- in pushing for an Internet
gambling ban.
"Basically,
the way the Internet has functioned is that
it's really opened a lot of communities -- a
lot of people to gambling that otherwise they
couldn't do," Pryor said.
One
of the reasons Kyl and other lawmakers are renewing
efforts to ban Internet gambling is the fall
of Jack Abramoff, a once-powerful lobbyist who
pleaded guilty in January to three felonies
in a fraud and bribery case.
Abramoff,
who is cooperating in a federal investigation
of corruption in Congress, has been accused
of killing a House bill in 2000 by Rep. Bob
Goodlatte, R-Va., that would have banned online
wagering.
Abramoff
collaborated with an aide to then-House Majority
Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, to defeat the proposed
ban because it would have put one of his clients
out of business, according to the Washington
Post.
Ironically,
DeLay is one of 118 co-sponsors of Goodlatte's
bill this year.
Goodlatte
re-introduced his bill on Feb. 16, saying Abramoff
had been responsible for "widespread disinformation"
about the 2000 measure.
Pryor
said he agrees.
"It
did appear that there were clearly some shenanigans
on the House side perpetuated by Abramoff and
(Republican consultant) Ralph Reed and others
that basically cost the bill its passage,"
Pryor said.
Sharyn
Stein, a spokeswoman for Senate Democratic Leader
Harry Reid of Nevada, said he will not decide
how he will vote on the Kyl-Pryor amendment
until he has had a chance to review it.
"In
the past, Senator Reid has opposed Internet
gambling because he has not been convinced it
can be regulated by the same strict standards
as casinos in Nevada," Stein said.
Calls
to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., were not returned.
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