House panel sets hearing on online gambling

WASHINGTON -- A House panel plans to dig further next week into the issues surrounding Internet gambling and efforts to legalize online poker.

The subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing and trade is setting a hearing for Nov. 18, according to Capitol Hill and industry officials. A list of speakers had not been finalized.

The hearing comes on the heels of an Oct. 25 subcommittee session in which lawmakers heard familiar pros and cons of legalizing, regulating and taxing Web poker, an overseas trade that enjoys millions of participants in the United States despite U.S. government efforts to outlaw play.

The session featured testimony from Indian tribes, academics and representatives of coalitions backed by poker players and by casino companies that view online gaming as a huge moneymaker and want to operate legal domestic sites.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., the subcommittee chairwoman, said at the time she would schedule a follow-up to hear from state officials and possibly those from Commerce and Justice departments who oversee the Internet and enforce wagering laws.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and a handful of co-sponsors including Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., introduced a bill this summer calling for legalization and federal regulation of online poker. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is working on related legislation.

Interest was fueled further after poker advocates called on the House-Senate debt reduction "supercommittee" to include an online gaming initiative among its recommendations that are due to Congress by Thanksgiving.

Barton has said the supercommittee has the issue under consideration, although there has been no public acknowledgment or confirmation from the panel.

The House hearing will take place a day after the Senate Indian Affairs Committee meets to further examine what is at stake for tribes that operate casinos and want to break onto the Internet.

"The flurry of hearings clearly shows how momentum is building for Congress to move on this issue," said Michael Waxman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, a coalition funded by Internet business servicers.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or
202-783-1760.