[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 82 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5915-S5916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE GROWTH OF LEGALIZED GAMBLING

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I will speak just briefly on another 
subject. That is, Senator Lugar and I and Senator Warner and a total of 
25 of us on both sides have introduced a bill to say, let us have a 
study of the growth of legalized gambling in our country.
  This is not the most Earth-shaking thing, but the fastest growing 
industry in our country is legalized gambling. And there are problems 
with that. It is the only form of addiction that Government promotes. 
We would be shocked if we saw a sign saying, ``Smoke Marlboro 
cigarettes. You know, they're fun to smoke'' or ``Drink more whiskey. 
You'll really have a good time,'' because both of those provide revenue 
for Government. But we do not seem to be shocked when there are 
billboards, like on the south side of Chicago, saying, ``The Illinois 
lottery--this is your way out.'' This is the impoverished area of 
Chicago. That is not the way out for people. It is education. It is 
hard work. It is the kind of things that we know have to be done.
  So Senator Lugar, Senator Warner, and I introduced this legislation. 
To the credit of Senator Stevens and his committee, it was reported out 
by voice vote. Now we want to move it through the Senate. The House has 
already passed a bill. We have to work the two out.
  My hope is that we could get this done quickly. I spoke last week to 
Senator Dole. I would love to see, before Bob Dole leaves, the Senate 
have us pass this legislation.
  The New York Times 3 days ago had an editorial urging the Senate to 
pass this legislation.
  The Christian Science Monitor has an editorial. The last paragraph 
reads:

       It's time society knew the real costs of gambling. The 
     Senate should pass the measure without delay.

  I hope we do this. I have no illusions. We are not going to stop 
legalized gambling in this country. We are not going to close Las Vegas 
or Atlantic city. But I think we should be looking at the possibility 
of steps to limit the growth. For example, you can now or shortly will 
be able to, on the Internet, gamble by computer using your American 
Express or Visa or some card. We do not know where that is going to 
lead. I think a commission ought to be looking into this.
  There are people who get addicted. I got into this because my mother 
is a member of a Lutheran Church in Collinsville, IL. And a substitute 
teacher at a Lutheran school of that church, unknown to her family, got 
addicted to gambling. They thought the money was going for rent and 
paying the bills and so forth. One day they came home and there was a 
note saying you could find her in the shopping mall parking lot. She 
had committed suicide. She went to a riverboat casino and got addicted. 
And you know, these stories multiply.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
these two editorials.
  There being no objection, the editorials were ordered to be printed 
in the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, June 3, 1996]

                         Gambling in the Senate

       Despite intense opposition from the gambling industry, the 
     Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has approved a 
     worthwhile measure to create a national commission to review 
     the social and economic impact of casinos and state-run 
     lotteries. Chances are good that it would win easy approval 
     by the Senate, much as a similar bill unanimously passed the 
     House in March. But there remains a danger that Senate 
     Republican leaders may try to kill the measure quietly by 
     failing to allow time for a vote on the Senate calendar.
       The bill approved by the Senate committee is a somewhat 
     watered down version of the House plan, which was proposed by 
     Representative Frank Wolf, a Virginia Republican. But it is a 
     marked improvement over the revision proposed earlier by Ted 
     Stevens of Alaska, the committee chairman. The compromise 
     fashioned by Mr. Stevens and the bill's sponsors--Richard 
     Lugar, Republican of Indiana, and Paul Simon, Democrat of 
     Illinois--grants the commission adequate subpoena power and a 
     sufficiently broad mandate to examine gambling's consequences 
     in communities around the country.
       As various forms of gambling have spread across the nation, 
     there has been little effort to examine the economic and 
     social impact. State and local political leaders faced with 
     deciding whether to approve gambling in their area, or expand 
     its presence, often have little hard information available to 
     assess the advantages and disadvantages to their communities.
       Bob Dole, now in his final days as Senate majority leader, 
     has indicated support for a Federal commission, despite heavy 
     financial support for his Presidential campaign from

[[Page S5916]]

     the gambling industry. But, at least for now, the bill is not 
     on the list of measures he hopes to pass before he departs 
     the Senate around June 11. Mr. Dole's likely sucesssor, Trent 
     Lott of Mississippi, has voiced reservations about forming a 
     national commission.
       With pro-gambling lobbyists working overtime to defeat 
     those good idea, the best step now would be for Mr. Dole to 
     bring the bill to the Senate floor before he departs. In 
     doing so he can serve the public good and demonstrate his 
     independence from a wealthy special-interest group.
                                                                    ____


           [From the Christian Science Monitor, May 20, 1996]

                          Gambling: A Bad Bet

       The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee last week 
     approved a bill to set up a national commission to study 
     gambling in the United States.
       The bill calls for the commission to examine the social and 
     economic impact of gambling on communities and individuals 
     and issue a report within two years. it would look at all 
     forms of gambling, including new forms of interactive 
     computer technology and gambling over the Internet. Three 
     commission members would be named by the president, three by 
     the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and three by the 
     Senate majority leader. The board would hold public hearings 
     and have the power to subpoena witnesses.
       Such a study, which joins a number of state-sponsored 
     inquiries, is long overdue. The states' headlong rush over 
     the last 20 years into lotteries, bingo, riverboat casinos, 
     and other gaming was accompanied by promises of economic 
     development, more state funding for schools and other 
     services, and ``harmless'' entertainment.
       Not one of these promises has come to pass. Instead of 
     economic development, discretionary spending is drained away 
     from other, more-productive spending on goods, services, or 
     entertainment. Instead of spending more on education or 
     social services, legislators have taken away general funds in 
     equal amounts and merely replaced the money with lottery and 
     keno revenues. Instead of harmless entertainment, there is 
     organized-crime involvement, gambling addiction, and a whole 
     host of personal problems fed by the lure of ``easy money.'' 
     The states, themselves addicted to gaming revenues, are 
     forced to invent new games to augment lottery earnings lost 
     to competition.
       The gambling industry opposes creation of this commission, 
     worried it will find that gambling causes more problems than 
     benefits for states and communities.
       It's time society knew the real costs of gambling. The 
     Senate should pass the measure without delay.

  Mr. SIMON. I urge Senator Dole, if possible, prior to Tuesday, to 
bring this up. I would hope we could pass it quickly. If that cannot 
happen, I hope Senator Lott or Senator Cochran, I am not voting on who 
will be the leader over there on their side, but I hope that we could 
move on this quickly. I think it is clearly in the national interest. 
This, again, is not an attempt to stop legalized gambling in this 
country. It is an attempt to say ``Let's look at where we are.''

  I see the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee. He is 
nodding, either because I was speaking, or he wishes to speak. I yield 
the floor to the Senator from Delaware.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.

                          ____________________