[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   THOUSANDS OF HIGHER PAYING JOBS: A POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE GAMING 
                                INDUSTRY

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, recently the National Gambling and Impact 
Policy Commission was formed. I am here today to speak about one of the 
positive impacts the gaming industry has had on our society.
  An article recently published in the Las Vegas Sun illustrates 
gaming's positive involvement in the important issue of welfare reform. 
Two of gaming's corporate citizens have been producing thousands of 
jobs for welfare recipients. These companies have been giving American 
families the confidence of being able to make ends meet without 
depending on public assistance.
  A recent Arthur Andersen study of gaming establishments in 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Illinois disclosed that gaming has had a 
dramatic role in decreasing public assistance in these areas. According 
to the study, casino companies and the industries that support them 
paid $21 billion in wages to more than 700,000 men and women in 1995.
  The average casino wage was $26,000 compared to $20,000 in other 
amusement and recreation sectors, $16,000 in the hotel-motel industry, 
$22,000 in the motion picture industry. This means that the men and 
women working in the small casinos to the large mega resorts and 
riverboats receive better wages and higher-paying jobs in exchange for 
their hard work.
  This is not just a Nevada issue, Mr. Speaker, this is a national 
issue. I urge Members' support.

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