Rep. Frank Introduces Bill to Repel UIGEA

Filed in archive Poker News on April 26, 2007

Sen. Barney Frank is not backing down from his stance on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act. Many quotes have come from the U.S. Representative concerning his distain towards the UIGEA and how it came into fruitation.

Now the senior congressman is going to put his money where his mouth is and presenting a bill to have the UIGEA repelled and maybe shine a little in the direction of online poker. Could the result be PartyPoker welcoming back all those juicy fish into the U.S. waters again?

The bill was introduced today basically outlines the possibility of making it the state's responsibility to legalize all forms of internet gambling via licensing.

Here's a snipet of the article from Gambling 911:

Congressman Barney Frank spoke this morning about his new bill that would look to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enactment Act (UIGEA). The law requires banks to monitor credit card transactions that could be used for the purpose of betting online.

The chairman of the Financial Services Committee is looking to raise tens of billions of dollars with his new bill, which could be used to pay for expensive tax, healthcare, or other domestic legislation Democrats want to move this year.

"It's a terrible idea and there are a large number of people who think it is a terrible idea," Frank said yesterday. "I don't know how it ends. The worst that happens is that enough anti-gambling busybodies will be less inclined to interfere in people's lives."

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) today introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007 that would create an exemption to the ban on online gambling for properly licensed operators, allowing Americans to lawfully bet online.

The Act establishes a federal regulatory and enforcement framework to license companies to accept bets and wagers online from individuals in the U.S., to the extent permitted by individual states, Indian tribes and sport leagues. All such licenses would include protections against underage gambling, compulsive gambling, money laundering and fraud.

"The existing legislation is an inappropriate interference on the personal freedom of Americans and this interference should be undone," said. Rep. Frank.

And check out Wicked Chops for links to the actual bill.