2 MORE REPRESENTATIVES SIGN UP FOR ANTI-UIGEA BILL

30 May 2008

Nineteen politicians now support the Frank-Paul bid to halt UIGEA in its tracks


HR 5767, the Congressional bill introduced April 2 designed to halt federal officials from further implementation of the controversial regulations underpinning the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, has another two supporters.

The Bill, proposed by House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Franks (Massachusetts) and Representative Ron Paul (Texas) quickly signed up 10 supporters, who were later joined by a further 5 Representatives.

This week Congressmen Steven R. Rothman [NJ-9] and Steve Cohen [TN-9] added their names to the HR 5767 sponsorship list, bringing total support for the measure to 19.

The full list of sponsors is currently:

Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.)
Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.)
William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.)
Bob Filner (D-Calif.)
Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.)
Michael Honda (D-Calif.)
Peter King (R-N.Y.)
James McGovern (D-Mass.)
James Moran (D-Va.)
Robert Wexler (D-Fla.)
Russ Carnahan (Missouri)
Michael Capuano (Massachusetts)
Ed Perlmutter (Colorado)
Charles Gonzalez (Texas)
Joe Baca (California)
Steven R. Rothman (Newe Jersey)
Steve Cohen (Tennessee)

Launching the bill last month, Frank said: "These regulations are impossible to implement without placing a significant burden on the payments system and financial institutions."

The Paul/Frank bill seeks to prohibit the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve from proposing regulations to enforce the UIGEA ban on Internet gambling financial transactions enacted in late 2006. The controversial legislation has been the subject of wide media comment, Congressional hearings and over 200 critical submissions, mainly from the financial community that will be required to enforce the law.

Complaints are that the law is ambiguous, impractical and lacks precision, and that it generates too great a workload for the US financial services industry.

Federal drafting officials have admitted that the regulations, now long overdue more than 18 months after the root legislation was passed, is giving them problems.

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