GOP aims to crack down on Web gambling

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GOP Abuses Homeland Security Bill By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
October 1, 2006

Congressional Republicans attached a measure cracking down on Internet gambling to a bill aimed at enhancing port security that passed Saturday.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., pushed for the gambling provision to be added to the larger bill.

Online gambling is generally illegal in most circumstances, but it is something that is difficult to enforce. The new measure tackles that by prohibiting gamblers from using credit cards, checks and electronic fund transfers to settle their online wagers.

"The enforcement provision provided by this bill will go a long way to stop these illegal online operations," Kyl said late Friday.

Kyl and Frist previously tried unsuccessfully to put the measure on a bill authorizing funding for the military, but critics said the Defense Department bill was no place for the gambling measure.

Similarly, Democrats complained Friday that Republicans had used the port security bill as a vehicle for other GOP-backed measures.

The House passed a version of the Internet gambling bill in July, but the Senate has taken no action on similar legislation.

Frist, eyeing a 2008 presidential bid, recently discussed the online gambling provision in the politically important state of Iowa. He also called it a legislative priority in a recent speech on the Senate floor.

"Congress has grappled with this issue for 10 years, and during that time we've watched this shadow industry explode," Frist said in a statement Friday. "For me as majority leader, the bottom line is simple: Internet gambling is illegal."

The measure's supporters include the National Football League as well as conservative and antigambling groups. Some banking groups have lobbied against it.

Federal officials have made recent arrests involving offshore companies operating Internet gambling sites. The Internet gambling industry is headquartered almost entirely outside the United States although many of its customers live in the U.S.

The new gambling provision is not expected to affect gambling at tracks or casinos.

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