Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia Republican,
raised a “strong objection” to attaching any unrelated legislation to a
pending defense bill, which has been viewed by supporters of the gambling
bill as a prime vehicle for it. “I have firmly opposed putting any
(unrelated) bills in the conference report,” Warner wrote in a letter dated
Monday to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican. Warner
did not cite the Internet gambling bill specifically, but he said other
senators have sought to tack at least nine unrelated items to the defense
bill. A Republican aide said that Frist has not given up on passing the
Internet gambling bill before lawmakers recess at the end of this week to
campaign for the Nov. 7 elections. Frist and other proponents are looking at
other possible vehicles, such as a pending measure to bolster port security
against potential terrorist attacks, aides said. “He wants to get it done,”
one aide said. “We are still working things out. Everyone is still talking.”
A senior Democratic aide said, “I wouldn’t pronounce it dead yet.”
Efforts to win support for a Internet version of the House bill in the
Senate have been opposed by lobbyists representing casino owners and horse-
and dog-racing interests.
The bill would prohibit most forms of Internet gambling and make it illegal
for banks and credit card companies to make payments to gambling sites.
Investors in British-based gaming companies such as BetOnSports, Partygaming
and 888 Holdings are closely watching the U.S. legislation.
Democrats have criticized the Republican-backed measure as an election-year
appeal to the party’s conservative base, particularly the religious right.
Frist is a potential 2008 presidential candidate. He recently appeared at a
congressional field hearing in Iowa–the state that holds the first
presidential nominating contest in 2008–to hear concerns about Internet
gambling.
Supporters of a crackdown on Internet gambling say legislation is needed to
clarify that a 1961 federal law banning interstate telephone betting also
covers an array of online gambling.
