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US lawmakers push to halt Internet gambling rules
WASHINGTON: Opponents of a law passed in 2006 to crack down on illegal Internet gambling said they hoped to stop the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department from finishing regulations to enforce the act.
"We intend to vigorously pursue legislation to prevent the implementation of these regulations," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and three other lawmakers said on Monday in a letter to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Congress passed legislation two years ago, when Republicans still controlled both the Senate and the House, aimed at shutting down Internet gambling by prohibiting credit card and other payments to illegal gambling sites. It also instructed the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, in consultation with the Justice Department, to come up with rules to enforce the act.
But rather than define what types of gambling are illegal online, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act relied on existing federal and state laws to answer that question. It also still allowed any online horserace betting permissible under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978.
Earlier this month, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department officials told the House Financial Services Committee they were struggling to develop regulations. Not only is it unclear what types of Internet gambling are illegal, but the payment system companies use to do business isn't designed to identify an illegal Internet transaction from a legal one, Louise Roseman, the Fed's director of reserve bank operations and payment systems.
European online gambling companies complain they lost billions of dollars in market value because of the 2006 US legislation. They also complain they have been unfairly singled out for prosecution by the US Justice Department. Frank's group included Rep.
Ron Paul, a conservative Texas Republican who failed in a long-shot bid to win the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, and two other senior Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee.
They urged Paulson and Bernanke in their letter to halt the "Sisyphean task" of developing regulations for 2006 Internet gambling act and focus their attention instead on more pressing concerns like the housing crisis. The lawmakers have also introduced a bill that would require the agency to stop work on the regulations.
US lawmakers push to halt Internet gambling rules
WASHINGTON: Opponents of a law passed in 2006 to crack down on illegal Internet gambling said they hoped to stop the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department from finishing regulations to enforce the act.
"We intend to vigorously pursue legislation to prevent the implementation of these regulations," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and three other lawmakers said on Monday in a letter to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Congress passed legislation two years ago, when Republicans still controlled both the Senate and the House, aimed at shutting down Internet gambling by prohibiting credit card and other payments to illegal gambling sites. It also instructed the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, in consultation with the Justice Department, to come up with rules to enforce the act.
But rather than define what types of gambling are illegal online, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act relied on existing federal and state laws to answer that question. It also still allowed any online horserace betting permissible under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978.
Earlier this month, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department officials told the House Financial Services Committee they were struggling to develop regulations. Not only is it unclear what types of Internet gambling are illegal, but the payment system companies use to do business isn't designed to identify an illegal Internet transaction from a legal one, Louise Roseman, the Fed's director of reserve bank operations and payment systems.
European online gambling companies complain they lost billions of dollars in market value because of the 2006 US legislation. They also complain they have been unfairly singled out for prosecution by the US Justice Department. Frank's group included Rep.
Ron Paul, a conservative Texas Republican who failed in a long-shot bid to win the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, and two other senior Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee.
They urged Paulson and Bernanke in their letter to halt the "Sisyphean task" of developing regulations for 2006 Internet gambling act and focus their attention instead on more pressing concerns like the housing crisis. The lawmakers have also introduced a bill that would require the agency to stop work on the regulations.
