"Congressional Resistance Beginning Against Bill to Ban Online Gambling"

At this stage of the history of the United States, the Internet gambling industry is far too lucrative and elusive for Congress to be able to control it, says critics of Arizona’s Republican Senator Jon Kyl’s introduction of legislation geared to prohibit online gambling.

Mark Resnick runs StarterCasino.Com, which is an informational site for prospective online casino operators. He is also the founder of Other Solutions to Reliable Online Commerce. He is reported as saying the following about this issue of government legislation. He pointes out that seven times the United States his tried to ban online betting but each time it has failed. He further adds that the industry is so lucrative that surely any attempt by the U.S. government to stop it at this point would be too little too late.

If nothing else, however, Senator Kyl is persistent, and according to a spokesperson from Kyl’s office, the Arizona senator is planning to introduce legislation during the summer similar in form to prior bills that he has tried to get through Congress. It is expected that the legislation being put forth this summer will probably be similar to previous legislation that has been introduced by Kyl in his attempt to shut down electronic funds transfers connected with online gambling.

There are though, several interests representing various gaming interests, for example, the horse racing industry, or tribal casinos and poker and sportsbooks, that don’t plan to let Kyl introduce the legislation without a fight. The Congressional Horse Caucus, as an example, has recently petitioned the Arizona Congressman’s office with a letter urging that legislation barring Internet wagering leave out betting on horse races.

The Congressional Horse Caucus argues that off-track betting, which includes Internet and simulcast wagers, is “the lifeblood of the industry” and that it is protected by the Interestate HorseRacing Act.

The letter that was sent to Senator Kyl’s office was signed by New York representative John Sweeney and Kentucky representative Ben Chandler. The letter asserts that in every recent version of Internet gambling legislation there has been a clarification indicating that its methods of enforcement do not apply to wagers on horseracing conducted pursuant to the IHA. They state that they believe that such clarifications are necessary and obvious steps toward implementation representing what has clearly been congressional intent for several years. They strongly urge Senator Kyl to include such provisions in his bill.

Most critics argue that the United States government cannot reasonably expect to maintain any significant control over the online gambling industry. Nevertheless, Senator Kyl’s legislation has an improved chance of passing at the present time since the Republicans are currently in control both of the Congress as well as the White House. Las Vegas attorney Tony Babot, whose clients comprise many horseracing interests, said that off-track betting is responsible for the only growth in the horse racing industry today accounting for three billion dollars a year in revenues. He adds that there will always be those who are motivated to get around the prohibition.