[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 91 (Thursday, June 7, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H6166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      INTERNET GAMBLING REGULATION AND TAX ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2007

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I was raised in a fundamentalist 
Christian home that cast a dim view on gambling. I didn't care for it 
much then, and I don't care for it now.
  While the Bible never directly uses the word ``gambling,'' there are 
plenty of references to it in Scripture, and none of them are very 
kind.
  Still, from lotteries to casinos, gambling is part of the American 
scene today. Across the country, governments derive revenue from 
gambling that flows into public coffers. Whether you call it a sin tax 
or self-imposed tax, it helps fund good social programs.
  Today, gambling has migrated online where it is unregulated, off 
shore and exporting billions of U.S. dollars. Basically, we have a Wild 
West show with few protections for Americans against fraud, underage 
gambling and privacy.
  My colleagues, Barney Frank and Peter King, have introduced 
legislation to establish some order and law online with licensing and 
regulation. I am introducing a companion bill today that establishes 
the process to collect some of the gambling revenue online just as we 
do in the communities.
  If we decide as a Nation to enable gambling online, the billions of 
dollars flowing out of this country should remain here to help us fund 
schools and bridges and a host of social programs that need more than 
luck to succeed.

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