Berkley introduces new gambling bill

Rep. Shelley Berkley introduced a bill on Thursday calling for a one-year study of online wagering by the National Academy of Sciences. This bill is another attempt to eliminate the Internet gambling ban.

Berkley said that this bill is effective because it analyzes the situation from an objective point of view, it doesn’t take any sides. She admitted that this is an attempt to eliminate the gambling bill which was approved by the Government last year.

Berkley also said that such an attempt is very difficult to complete because the Congress has approved it, but she said that the situation was not clear when the voting took place. Berkley said that she thought she voted for something else.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass released a bill last week in which he proposed the repeal of the Internet gambling ban and he required the Department of Treasury to regulate the $13 billion online wagering industry.

The bills are very different because Berkley wants an objective analysis of the situation, whereas Barney wants a pro-gambling stance. Joseph Kelly, a professor of business law at Buffalo State said that the situation is clear: the Justice Department is going to tell the Congress that internet gambling is related to organized crime and that money is laundered this way.

He said that online gambling has a chance of being approved only when a study comes out and says that it's legal and safe to gamble online. He also stated that many congressmen will change their opinion when the U.K. begins issuing licenses this fall.

Berkley is one of Frank's cosponsors and Frank is one of Berkley’s cosponsors, but Frank has 11 cosponsors whereas Berkley has 60. Some of her most influential cosponsors: Reps. Dean Heller and Jon Porter, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a New Jersey Republican who represents casinos in Atlantic City.

Rep. Bob Wexler, D-Fla wants to release a bill by which the internet poker would be allowed. Berkley's bill would also:

• Evaluate the impact of the ban approved last year.


• Examine the technological methods which other countries that license and regulate Internet gambling use


• Analyze recent rulings on Internet gambling by the World Trade Organization.

Porter, who introduced a bill last year calling for an 18-month study of Internet gambling, said that Berkley’s bill has higher chances of passing because it will create more discussion and debates.