ONLINE CASINO MEASURE WILL NOT BE ATTACHED TO MILITARY BILL (Update)

22 September 2006

Senators Warner and Levin tell Majority Leader Frist that online gambling measure is irrelevant to military bill

With time marching on toward the end of the 109th Congress by the latest November this year, the proponents of anti-online gambling legislation suffered another setback this week after intense negotiations.

With his colleagues in the Senate showing little appetite for conventionally bringing the measure to the floor this year, Frist attempted to fast-track his proposal by attaching it to a totally unrelated military authorisation bill (see previous InfoPowa reports)

Congressional sources on Monday confirmed that Sen. John Warner, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and his Democrat colleague Sen. Carl Levin rejected the approach on grounds of irrelevancy. The reprieve could be a short one, as GOP leaders have apparently vowed to keep trying to pass Frist-style legislation as long as Congress is in session.

Feisty Nevada Democrat Rep. Shelley Berkely is reported to have communicated with Warner, urging him to reject any amendment seeking to ban online gambling. "We must not use this important [Defence] bill as a convenient vehicle for political pet issues such as a ban on Internet gaming," Berkley said.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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