By John Caldwell
This afternoon in Cedar Rapids Iowa, Congressman Jim Leach is holding
a 'Field Hearing' to discuss issues relating to the Unlawful Gambling
Enforcement Act, which Leach co-sponsored in the House of Representatives.
The bill passed the House by an easy margin of 317-93, but most pundits
agree the bill passing the Senate will not be as easy.
To build support for the bill, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
will join Leach today in Iowa, for a public hearing that is sure to
highlight the tensions that exist on both sides of the argument.
The Senate reconvenes on Tuesday for its Fall session. Since the
Senate broke for recess, a lot has happened that make the issues surrounding
this bill all the more complex. Yesterday,
Mansion deposit bonus
the Independent Community Bankers of America came out in opposition
to this bill, stating that the human, and economic costs of that banks
monitoring transactions (the part of the 'enforcement' process of
the proposed ban) were prohibitive to the legislation being practical.
The much larger American Banking Association has yet to weigh in with
its position on the matter, but many in the banking industry feel
the official ABA response will be either 'neutral', or 'opposed',
with 'in support of' being the least likely possibility.
The Senate must also grapple with the fact that this is an election
year, and only those politicians whose constituencies are the most
aligned one way or the other will be able to take a firm stand on
this issue. Even staunch supporters of the bill agree this issue may
be 'too hot' to take on in the last session before elections. The
Fall session would only provide a little more than a month for the
debate, and resolution of the issue, which many feel simply may not
be enough.
Senator Frist was quoted about three weeks ago as saying the online
gaming bill was his 'lowest priority' for the Fall session of the
Senate, which many feel sealed the legislation's fate for this year.
There should be some tension in the hall this afternoon in Cedar
Rapids, and one would assume the discussion may get heated