[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 126 (Thursday, August 2, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1698-E1699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            LEGALIZING INTERNET SPORTS GAMBLING IS DANGEROUS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 1, 2007

  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I would like to address the troubling issue 
of gambling on sports. In the past couple of weeks, basketball fans 
throughout the Nation have been shocked and saddened by revelations 
that a referee was gambling on games he officiated, and may have 
affected the outcomes of those games. A player or referee gambling on 
his own game is probably the single greatest betrayal that can be 
committed against fans of the sport.
  The temptation to sports corruption does not come out of nowhere. It 
comes out of a culture where many people turn a blind eye to the fact 
that sports gambling is illegal in 49 States. And, as USA Today 
reported, athletes and officials become vulnerable when they develop a 
gambling problem on other sports, or even on other types of gambling.
  I received a letter this week from the professional and collegiate 
sports associations--which I believe my colleague, the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Towns), already placed in the Record--that reveals 
efforts in this Congress to legitimize sports gambling online. This is 
the last thing we need. We should help raise awareness of the threat 
that gambling poses to cherished American athletics. We should never 
put a stamp of approval on sports gambling.
  Last year, I voted for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 
of 2006, in part because our laws against sports gambling were being 
evaded and eroded by offshore gambling operators. Now the same 
companies we shooed out of the illegal marketplace in the U.S. last 
fall are back supporting H.R. 2046, which would license them to take 
bets, including sports bets, from Americans.
  They have their slick arguments. They say the individual sports 
leagues can opt out--as if gambling on basketball could possibly be any 
more or less harmful than gambling on football or hockey or soccer. 
They say the bill will raise tax revenue. Well, the ways we can raise 
tax revenue are nearly infinite--that's no excuse for bad policy. They 
say legal gambling can be better monitored--but it was legal gambling 
that got Tom Donaghy deep in debt and drove him to turn to criminal 
gambling.
  I agree with the sports associations and my colleague from New York 
(Mr. Towns) that the harms of sports gambling far outweigh any alleged 
benefits. I urge my colleagues to reject any efforts to legitimize 
sports gambling in this Nation.

[[Page E1699]]



                          ____________________