[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 102 (Friday, July 20, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H4372-H4374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE SPREAD OF GAMBLING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kerns). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago The Washington Post did a front 
page story about how the gambling industry targets one of our Nation's 
most vulnerable groups, our senior citizen population.
  According to the article, it says, ``Casinos are trying harder than 
ever to attract retirees. Some are dispatching buses to senior centers 
or vans to trailer parks and timing their offers for free rides to 
coincide with the arrival of Social Security checks.''
  The gambling industry goes to great lengths to prey on our Nation's 
most vulnerable groups, the young, the poor, and perhaps most 
frequently the elderly. A national survey recently revealed over one-
half of all senior citizens had gambled recently. This is more than 
double the rate of one generation ago.
  The gambling industry targets this audience because they have two 
attractive attributes: time and money. Often those who are lonely 
become quickly addicted. It is not long before the marketing strategy 
succeeds as gambling eats up seniors' life savings and Social Security 
checks.
  Mr. Speaker, while I was saddened to read this story, I was not 
surprised. I am not surprised because very few are actually speaking 
out against the spread of gambling. I am not surprised because very few 
of our political leaders have spoken out. I am not surprised because 
most religious leaders have not spoken out. I am not surprised because 
most advocates for the poor have not spoken out. I am not surprised 
because most traditional advocates for the elderly have not spoken out. 
Saddened, yes; but surprised, no.
  Only 30 years ago gambling was illegal in most States and was 
generally considered to be a vice contrary to the American work ethic. 
Let me say that one more time. Only 30 years ago gambling was illegal 
in most States and was generally considered to be a vice contrary to 
the American work ethic.
  Serious gamblers had to travel to Nevada for casino play, and States 
had not yet plunged into the lottery mania. Today the lottery is played 
in 37 States, plus the District of Columbia. All but three States have 
legalized some form of gambling. Gambling expansion has swept the 
Nation, with revenues jumping from $1 billion in 1980 to well over $50 
billion today. That means that Americans lose on average over $137 
million every day. Americans lose on an average $137 million every day 
a year from gambling.
  What has the spread of gambling meant for the country? First, 
gambling comes with a high social cost. Some 15.4 million Americans 
already suffer from problem and pathological gambling, also called 
gambling addiction, which is often devastating to the individual and 
his or her family.
  The National Academy of Sciences found that pathological gamblers 
engaged in destructive behaviors. They run up large debts, they damage 
relationships with family and friends, and they kill themselves. 
Pathological gambling is defined by the American Psychiatric 
Association as an impulse control disorder with symptoms similar to 
those of drug and alcohol addictions. The gambling addict experiences 
tolerances, needing more gambling, withdrawal from trying to stop, a 
loss of control and cannot stop even after trying, and often lying and 
illegal acts such as stealing to support the habit.
  The effects of this addiction are wide-ranging and often impact many 
who are not involved with gambling. It is not unusual for a gambling 
addict to end up in bankruptcy with a broken family facing criminal 
charges from his or her employer.
  Youth introduced to gambling are particularly at a high risk for 
gambling addiction. Over half of those with problem gambling disorders, 
7.9 million, are adolescents. For instance, a Louisiana survey of 
12,000 adolescents found that 10 percent had bet on horse racing, and 
25 percent had played video poker.
  Adolescents are more likely to become problem or pathological 
gamblers since they are more vulnerable to risk-taking behavior. 
According to the National Gambling Impact Study, a study which Congress 
created and which released its report in 1999, adolescent gambling is 
associated with alcohol and drug use, truancy, low grades, and 
problematic gambling in parents and illegal activities to finance 
gambling.
  This has led to tragic outcomes. One 16-year-old boy attempted 
suicide after losing $6,000 on lottery tickets. There is a tremendous 
need for prevention, research and treatment for gambling addiction. 
Unfortunately, all three are in short supply. A person who needs 
treatment is likely to find there is little available and what is 
available is not covered by insurance.

  How quickly can addiction develop? Story after story recounts the 
heartbreak.
  Consider the story of Debbie. She and her husband visited a new 
casino built near them in Blackhawk, Colorado. The novelty soon wore 
off, but her husband started going four or five nights a week. Within 3 
months of their first visit, Debbie learned that they would have to 
file for bankruptcy. Her husband had lost close to $40,000. This did 
not stop her husband from gambling, and eventually they divorced. So 
much for family values. She said, ``The husband I divorced was not the 
husband I married. He is a total stranger to me. He became a liar, a 
cheat. He engaged in criminal, illegal activities.''
  Gambling has negative economic impacts. Revenues are drained from 
local businesses and services. Gambling leads to a shift in consumer 
spending from small business groups and services which produce local 
employment. There is an increased cost to the State from bankruptcy, 
addiction, treatment centers and the penal system.
  The Gambling Commission estimated that direct gambling costs borne by 
the government are currently about $6 billion a year. This does not 
count indirect costs such as loss of productivity in the workplace, 
divorce consequences for the family. It is reasonable to suggest that 
the more gambling a State offers, the more costs it must bear.
  Gambling is associated with breakdown of the democratic political 
process. The Gambling Commission concluded that local and State 
governments tend to become a dependent partner to the gambling industry 
and become reliant on their vast funds and can be influenced by 
campaign contributions.
  In State after State, the gambling industry pours money into the 
coffers of local politicians from both political parties in hopes of 
advancing their interests. In State after State, opponents of a 
gambling proposal are outfinanced, outgunned and outmanned. The fact 
that gambling has not spread further is a tribute to the tireless 
efforts of a few grassroots activists in States. These advocacy 
efforts, often outspent by rates of 20 to 1, have held the levy against 
even further encroachment by the gambling industry into every community 
in America.
  On the Federal level, the NCAA gambling bill introduced on the House 
side by the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) and the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) to close the loophole allowing the 
betting on college sports in Nevada is indefinitely on hold, even 
though if it were brought up to the floor most people know it would 
pass overwhelmingly.
  Who supports the bill? Almost every university with athletics 
programs, the NCAA, almost every college coach in America, including 
Joe Paterno, Lou

[[Page H4373]]

Holtz, Bobby Bowden, Mike Krzyzewski. The lone opposition to this bill 
comes from the gambling industry which has fought the bill vigorously 
and is among the highest contributors to campaign funds of both 
political parties.
  Sometimes, though, the real story of the spread of gambling can only 
be understood by actually hearing about the real-life stories that show 
the true consequences of the spread of gambling. Mr. Speaker, I would 
like to share a few of these stories.
  Gambling can lead to death. ``A gambler losing big dollars in the 
high-roller area of the Motor City Casino in Detroit pulled out a gun, 
shot himself in the head and died, police said. Terrified gamblers fled 
from the blackjack table where off-duty Oak Park Police Sgt. Solomon 
Bell had been consistently losing large bets, witnesses said. Detroit 
police said Bell had been gambling earlier in the day at MGM Grand 
Detroit Casino and was hoping to make up for some losses there. They 
said he lost between $15,000 and $20,000 in the two casinos during the 
day.'' That was in the Detroit Free Press.

                              {time}  1100

  ``A former employee at Trump Marina Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City 
leaped to his death from the gambling hall's self-parking garage. 
Charles LaVerde's death marked the fifth suicide plunge from a casino 
facility in less than a year.'' Atlantic City Press.
  So much for family values, family values on both sides as Members are 
taking the money from the gambling interests.
  ``A Hancock County, Mississippi woman says she killed her mother and 
husband last year as part of a suicide pact made in despair over large 
gambling debts the trio had run up at Gulf Coast casinos. Julie Winborn 
pleaded guilty in the death of her husband, Grady Winborn, 57, and her 
mother, Inez Bouis, 66. She was sentenced Thursday to two life 
sentences. She had testified that the three lost $50,000 at casinos and 
decided to end their lives because they could not repay bank and credit 
union loans.'' Associated Press, 9/10/99.
  Gambling can lead to crime.
  ``An insidious new kind of crime is taking hold, radiating out across 
southern New England from the two Indian casinos in eastern 
Connecticut. It is embezzlement committed by desperate gamblers, 
usually compulsive gamblers, who work in positions of trust. A sampling 
of criminal cases over the past 2 years shows that the amounts of money 
can be staggering and that an increasing number of the gamblers are 
women. In all these cases, the money was used to gamble at the Foxwoods 
Resort Casino or the Mohegan Sun casino, authorities said.'' Hartford 
Courant.
  ``Of all the heroes who emerged from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, 
perhaps none was more inspirational than Henny Tillman. A big, tough 
hometown kid, he had plunged into serious trouble when he was rescued 
in a California Youth Authority lockup by a boxing coach who saw a 
young man of uncommon heart and untapped talent. In a little more than 
2 years, he would stand proudly atop the Olympic platform at the sports 
arena, just blocks from his boyhood home, the gold medal for 
heavyweight boxing dangling from his neck. But 2 years after his 
mediocre pro career ended, he was back behind bars. And now he stands 
accused of murder in a case that could put him away for life. Gambling 
got Tillman in trouble. He was arrested in January 1994 for passing a 
bad credit card at the Normandie. He pleaded no contest and got 
probation. In 1995, he pleaded guilty to using a fake credit card in an 
attempt to get $800 at the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood. I have 
suffered from a long history of gambling addiction, which I am very 
ashamed had taken over my life, Tillman wrote in a letter to the 
court.'' Los Angeles Times.
  ``A Rhode Island woman known as the ``church lady'' is free on bail 
after pleading innocent to stealing $3,000 from four severely mentally 
retarded adults at a Mansfield, Massachusetts group home to play slots 
at the Foxwoods Casino.''
  Are the people who run the Foxwoods Casino proud of this record?
  ``An organist at St. Theresa's Church in Nasonville, Rhode Island, 
Denise Manderville, worked as a caretaker for the four adults.'' Boston 
Herald.
  ``Felony criminal charges are on the rise in northern areas of lower 
Michigan and some judges, prosecutors, and others are blaming much of 
the increase on compulsive gambling. Antrim prosecutor Charles Koop 
said the gambling-related felonies are troubling because many of the 
people aren't criminally-minded.'' Associated Press.
  Gambling can lead to debt and bankruptcy.
  ``One-third of 120 compulsive gamblers participating in a pioneering 
treatment study have either filed for bankruptcy or are in the process 
of filing, a University of Connecticut researcher said Tuesday. Nancy 
Petry said she recently gave a talk to a group of bankruptcy lawyers 
who estimated that as many as 20 percent of their clients had mentioned 
gambling as a reason for their problems.'' Hartford Courant.
  Will Torres, Jr., spends part of his day listening to sad stories. As 
the director of the Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana district attorney's 
office bad check enforcement program, Torres has heard some doozies. 
``I've seen people lose their homes, their retirements wiped out, their 
marriages, people losing everything they have. Gambling, specifically 
video poker, is starting to catch up with drugs and alcohol as a 
precursor to local crime,'' Torres said. Torres and the district 
attorney's office recently noticed an interesting trend while profiling 
bad check writers: a large number of their suspects are video poker 
addicts. ``We're not talking about people who mistakenly write a check 
for groceries at Winn-Dixie for $25.33. We're talking about people who 
are writing checks for $25 or $30 eight times a day at locations with 
video poker machines or places in close proximity of video poker 
machines,'' Torres said. So far this year, Torres' office has collected 
$320,000 for Terrebonne Parish merchants who were given 3,600 worthless 
checks. Torres said about 30 percent of those bad checks are connected 
to gambling. `` `It's eating people up,' he said. `It's real sad when 
people don't have a dollar. No money for food because of gambling 
addictions. I've seen it up close, and video poker plays a large role 
in the problem,' Torres said.'' The Courier.

  Gambling affects children.
  ``A 4-year-old girl remained in protective custody in Fort Mill, 
South Carolina, after her mother was charged with leaving her in a 
locked car while she played video poker. Tuesday in Ridgeland, a woman 
whose 10-day-old baby died in a sweltering car while she played video 
poker was given a suspended sentence and 5 years' probation. York 
County, South Carolina sheriff Bruce Bryant said such incidents reflect 
the addictive nature of video poker. `You see the same thing with 
people addicted to cocaine and heroin. They lose all rational thought 
and will do anything to support their habit, sell the furniture right 
out of their house, leave their babies in locked cars during the middle 
of summer,' he said.'' The State, Columbia.
  ``Children have been left unattended at Indiana's riverboat casinos 
more than three dozen times while their parents or other guardians were 
gambling during the past 14 months. A Courier-Journal review of Indiana 
Gaming Commission records found 37 instances involving an estimated 72 
abandoned children since May of 1999 when the State first began 
compiling reports of such episodes. In one case, an infant had to be 
revived with oxygen.'' Louisville Courier-Journal.
  Gambling affects families. We hear so much talk about family values 
on this floor. When I think of both political parties taking money from 
the gambling interests, they should read this story:
  ``There is an ugly undercurrent that's sweeping away thousands of 
Missourians, people whose addiction to gambling has led to debt, 
divorce and crime. This is a world of people like Vicky, 36, a St. 
Charles woman who regularly left her newborn son with baby sitters to 
go to the casinos and who considered suicide after losing $100,000. And 
Kathy, a homemaker and mother of two from Brentwood, who would drop her 
kids at school and spend the entire day at a casino playing blackjack. 
She used a secret credit card that her husband didn't know about to 
rack up more than $30,000 in debt.'' St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

[[Page H4374]]

  In short, while the explosion of various forms of gambling across 
America has, of course, generated some revenue for States and for the 
gambling industry, it has left in its wake human misery that is only 
now beginning to be understood. This misery ends up costing the State 
more than it receives and creates a vicious cycle as the needs of 
social services dramatically increases. Whether it is a State lottery, 
a casino, or a cruise to nowhere, gambling is a poor bet for funding 
legitimate social needs.
  And soon gambling will be in every home in America with an Internet 
connection. More than 850 Internet gambling sites worldwide had 
revenues in 1999 of $1.67 billion, up more than 80 percent from 1998 
according to Christiansen Capital Advisors, which tracks the industry. 
Revenues are expected to top $3 billion by 2002.
  I want this Congress, I want this Congress and this country, I want 
this administration, who talks about family values also to reflect on 
the seriousness of this issue. Frankly, I have heard no one in this 
administration speak out on this issue, although to their credit they 
are new, but we have sent letter after letter and they have not spoken 
out on this issue. This is not about whether or not one makes a 
decision of choice to travel to Las Vegas or Atlantic City and gamble 
for recreation. The reality is that such a choice takes planning and 
some time. As gambling spreads throughout the country, there is less 
planning time and much more availability for potential addicts to 
gamble. Imagine this availability being just one click away. This 
Congress and this administration needs to consider the seriousness of 
not passing an Internet gambling ban. Are we really ready to have a 
virtual casino in every home in America with an Internet connection?
  Mr. Speaker, with all this hard evidence, who is speaking out against 
the spread of gambling? Crime, corruption, family breakdown, suicide, 
bankruptcy, and yet the silence is deafening. In fact, in this body, 
they passed a faith-based proposal yesterday which I supported, and the 
broken bodies will be helped by that faith-based community. Yet the 
Bush administration, whether it be Secretary Norton at Commerce or the 
White House itself has not spoken out on this issue. Where is the Bush 
administration on this issue?
  I want to conclude by asking our political leaders, good people on 
both sides of the aisle, I want to ask our religious leaders, I want to 
ask those who care about the poor, that care about the poor that Jesus 
talked about in Matthew 25, I want to ask those who care about the 
elderly, I want to ask those who are always talking about family values 
to speak up on this issue, because if you do not speak up on behalf of 
the Nation's most vulnerable, who will?

                          ____________________