WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled, “A Casino in Every Smartphone—Law Enforcement Implications.” Witnesses at the hearing discussed the dangers of Internet gambling, including money laundering, funding for terrorism and international criminal organizations, fraud, addiction and youth gambling.
Witnesses included Nevada state Sen. Mark Lipparelli, a former Nevada Gaming Board member; Joseph Campbell, assistant director of the criminal investigative division for the FBI; South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson; and Nebraska’s Douglas County Attorney Donald Kleine.
With the exception of Lipparelli, the witnesses cited their concerns about the inherent interstate nature of the Internet and their inability—due to lack of resources and manpower, varying laws and policies among the states—to effectively police “virtual casinos” that easily cross state borders. Lipparelli, who generally minimized the problems with Internet gambling, admitted that no online gambling site is “bullet proof” and lawmakers and law enforcement officials will surely “uncover new risks and challenges.”
Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), lead sponsor of H.R. 707, the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, opened the hearing by discussing how the law—and by extension, law enforcement—has entered an era of uncertainty with respect to Internet gambling. A single lawyer, he explained, at the Department of Justice wrote an opinion in 2011 that effectively undid 50-plus years of settled law in this area and threatens to undermine many states’ laws restricting gambling activities. Chaffetz then cited the importance and benefit of thoughtful legislative action in this area, rather than allowing a bureaucrat to dictate (and dramatically change) policy that affects every state. Chaffetz’s comments were echoed by Wilson and Kleine throughout the hearing.
Committee questions elicited differing opinions on a wide range of issues, including states’ technical ability to restrict access to online games by persons outside of their borders and avoid infringing on other states’ rights to prevent their citizens from gambling online. Reps. Mark Walker (R-NC), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Gary Palmer (R-AL) and William Lacy Clay Jr. (D-MO) expressed worry about the amplified threat of Internet gambling to low-income communities, minorities, youths and people with addiction problems.