TIME Politics Congress Yuya ShinoReuters Las Vegas Sands Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson rides his wheelchair after a news conference in Tokyo , Feb. 24, 2014
Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson is making a renewed push to ban online gambling after it failed last year.
Reps. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, and Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat, reintroduced an Adelson-backed bill Wednesday, provoking another battle within the deep-pocketed gaming community pitting Adelsons Las Vegas Sands against MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, which hope to make money online.
Speaking to a handful of reporters in his Washington office, Chaffetz said that he supported the bill out of concern that online gambling companies are targeting children. He is considering calling a hearing on the matter in the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, which he now chairs.
That is so offensive and wrong, he said. When youre a seven year-old kid and there is no physical barrier, and all you need to do is get your iPhone, that becomes a whole new world.
This is the Wild Wild West, he added. There are no rules, no prohibitions, no structure, no oversight, nothing.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose spokesman says he will introduce the same bill in his chamber, believes that Internet gambling is a nefarious activity and should be banned. I think people in the criminal world and terrorist world could get a benefit from it, he said.
If passed, the bill would overturn a 2011 Department of Justice ruling on the Interstate Wire Act that effectively allowed the states to decide on whether or not to legalize online gambling. With still-unrealized dreams of tax revenues, Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey became the first to do so in 2013.
The issue doesnt break along the usual partisan divide. There are six co-sponsors on the House bill, ranging from conservative Reps. Steve King and Trent Franks to moderate Republican Charlie Dent. Other Republicans believe that it is a states rights issue and are more or less happy with the DOJ ruling.
Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, argued that Congress should reject the bill and leave the issue to the states.
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House Introduces Online Gambling Bill Backed by Sheldon Adelson