Internet Gambling: A Sketch of Legislative Proposals in the 108th and 109th Congresses (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised April 4, 2006 |
| Report Number |
RS21487 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Charles Doyle and Kenneth R. Thomas, American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
In the 109th Congress, two bills have been introduced regarding Internet gambling: H.R. 4411 , the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005 (Representative Leach), and
H.R. 4777 , the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (Representative Goodlatte). H.R.
4411, which was approved by voice vote by the House Committee on Financial Services
on March 15, 2006, seems to most closely track provisions set forth in two similar bills from the
108th Congress ( H.R. 21 and S. 627 ), as it contains both regulatory
controls, criminal penalties, and civil remedies. H.R. 4411, however, moves away from
the approach used in these earlier bills (as introduced) to exempt Internet gambling associated with
state-licensed gambling businesses. Instead, the bill contains an exemption for "Intrastate
Transactions" where the bet or wager is made exclusively within a state and does not violate
state
or federal law. The bill also contains an exception for Indian gaming for bets or wagers made
exclusively within or between tribal lands that do not violate tribal or federal law or an applicable
Tribal-State Compact. The other bill introduced in this Congress, H.R. 4777 (Goodlatte),
seems most closely related to H.R. 3215 (107th Congress, first session), introduced by
Representative Goodlatte, which was reported out of the Judiciary Committee. This bill is designed
to clarify the application of the Wire Act to Internet gambling. For a more detailed description of
the proposals in the 109th Congress, see CRS Report RS22418 , Internet Gambling: Two
Approaches
in the 109th Congress , by Charles Doyle.
