[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 106 (Thursday, July 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S8298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
                       GAMBLING STUDY COMMISSION

 Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, yesterday the Senate approved S. 
704, a bill to create a National Gambling Impact Study Commission. I 
strongly support this bill.
  Legalized gambling of all kinds, casino gambling as well as State 
lotteries has often been touched as a way for States and localities to 
make money for various good causes. In my own State of North Carolina, 
support for a State lottery has always been offered as a means of 
supplementing the State education budget.
  The North Carolina General Assembly has so far defeated several 
attempts to establish a State lottery.
  Lotteries in particular, are held up as a means of filling State 
coffers, a way of financing Government projects, not as a boon to 
individual citizens. Mr. President, I for one am somewhat skeptical of 
any project which seeks to grow Government, for whatever purpose. 
Government--at the State, local, and Federal level--has been growing by 
leaps and bounds in recent years, reaching into areas of our lives it 
was never intended for. The ever-increasing burden of taxes and 
regulation has placed tremendous strain on families and small 
businesses. It seems to me we need to concentrate on restraining 
government, not expanding it.
  It is becoming increasingly evident that gambling may not be the 
economic boon it is held out to be. The North Carolina Department of 
Commerce commissioned a study of the potential economic and social 
impact of gambling in western North Carolina. The study's conclusions 
were dramatic: Casino gambling would likely create more problems than 
it solved for western North Carolina. Among them, congested roads, 
rising crime rates and the crowding out of traditional tourist business 
and the families who patronize them.
  In addition, the human toll of gambling is just beginning to be 
assessed adequately. Compulsive gambling can lead to alcoholism, 
bankruptcy, and can lead to the destruction of individuals and 
families.
  If legalized gambling is the great economic boon its supporters make 
it out to be, they should not fear the results of this study. If it is 
not, it deserves a closer look.

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