[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   LETTER FROM THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL (NAAG) 
OPPOSING H.R. 2046, THE ``INTERNET GAMBLING REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT 
                             ACT OF 2007''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB GOODLATTE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 19, 2007

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I am submitting for the Congressional 
Record a letter from the National Association of Attorneys General 
(NAAG) signed by 45 Attorneys General opposing Representative Barney 
Frank's legislation, H.R. 2046, the ``Internet Gambling Regulation and 
Enforcement Act of 2007.'' In this letter, these Attorneys General 
declare that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, 
which provided an additional Federal enforcement tool against Internet 
gambling and which was signed into law last year, has ``effectively 
driven many illicit gambling operators from the American marketplace.'' 
The NAAG letter then goes on to detail the opposition of 45 top law 
enforcement officials to H.R. 2046. I request that the entirety of this 
letter be included in the Record immediately following my remarks, 
including the list of all the signers of this letter.
                                              National Association


                                         of Attorneys General,

                                Washington, DC, November 30, 2007.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Speaker, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. John Boehner,
     Minority Leader, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Minority Leader, U.S. Senate
     Washington, DC.
       To the Leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and 
     Senate: We, the Attorneys General of our respective States, 
     have grave concerns about H.R. 2046, the ``Internet Gambling 
     Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007.'' We believe that the 
     bill would undermine States' traditional powers to make and 
     enforce their own gambling laws.
       On March 21, 2006, 49 NAAG members wrote to the leadership 
     of Congress: ``We encourage the United States Congress to 
     help combat the skirting of state gambling regulations by 
     enacting legislation which would address Internet gambling, 
     while at the same time ensuring that the authority to set 
     overall gambling regulations and policy remains where it has 
     traditionally been most effective: at the state level.'' 
     Congress responded by enacting the Unlawful Internet Gambling 
     Enforcement Act of 2006, UIGEA, which has effectively driven 
     many illicit gambling operators from the American 
     marketplace.
       But now, less than a year later. H.R. 2046 proposes to do 
     the opposite, by replacing state regulations with a Federal 
     licensing program that would permit Internet gambling 
     companies to do business with U.S. customers. The Department 
     of the Treasury would alone decide who would receive Federal 
     licenses and whether the licensees were complying with their 
     terms. This would represent the first time in history that 
     the Federal government would be responsible for issuing 
     gambling licenses.
       A Federal license would supersede any state enforcement 
     action, because Sec. 5387 in H.R. 2046 would grant an 
     affirmative defense against any prosecution or enforcement 
     action under any Federal or State law to any person who 
     possesses a valid license and complies with the requirements 
     of H.R. 2046. This divestment of state gambling enforcement 
     power is sweeping and unprecedented.
       The bill would legalize Internet gambling in each State. 
     unless the Governor clearly specifies existing state 
     restrictions barring Internet gambling in whole or in part. 
     On that basis, a State may ``opt out'' of legalization for 
     all Internet gambling or certain types of gambling. However, 
     the opt-out for types of gambling does not clearly preserve 
     the right of States to place conditions on legal types of 
     gambling. Thus, for example, if the State permits poker in 
     licensed card rooms, but only between 10 a.m. and midnight, 
     and the amount wagered cannot exceed $100 per day and the 
     participants must be 21 or older, the Federal law might 
     nevertheless allow 18-year-olds in that State to wager much 
     larger amounts on poker around the clock.
       Furthermore, the opt-outs may prove illusory. They will 
     likely be challenged before the World Trade Organization. The 
     World Trade Organization has already shown itself to be 
     hostile to U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling. If it 
     strikes down State opt-outs as unduly restrictive of trade. 
     the way will be omen to the greatest expansion of legalized 
     gambling in American history and near total preemption of 
     State laws restricting Internet gambling.
       H.R. 2046 effectively nationalizes America's gambling laws 
     on the Internet, ``harmonizing'' the law for the benefit of 
     foreign gambling operations that were defying our laws for 
     years, at least until UIGEA was enacted. We therefore oppose 
     this proposal, and any other proposal that hinders the right 
     of States to prohibit or regulate gambling by their 
     residents.
           Sincerely,
         John S. Juthers, Attorney General of Colorado; Bill 
           McCollum, Attorney General of Florida; Douglas Gansler, 
           Attorney General of Maryland; Troy King, Attorney 
           General of Alabama; Talis J. Colberg, Attorney General 
           of Alaska; Terry Goddard, Attorney General of Arizona; 
           Dustin McDaniel, Attorney General of Arkansas; Edmund 
           G. Brown. Jr., Attorney General of California; Richard 
           Blumenthal, Attorney General of Connecticut; Joseph R. 
           (Beau) Biden III, Attorney General of Delaware.
         Linda Singer, Attorney General of the District of 
           Columbia; Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General of 
           Georgia; Alicia G. Limtiaco, Attorney General of Guam; 
           Mark J. Bennett, Attorney General of Hawaii; Lawrence 
           Wasden, Attorney General of Idaho; Lisa Madigan, 
           Attorney General of Illinois; Stephen Carter, Attorney 
           General of Indiana; Paul Morrison, Attorney General of 
           Kansas; Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General of 
           Louisiana; G. Steven Rowe, Attorney General of Maine.
         Lori Swanson, Attorney General of Minnesota; Jim Hood, 
           Attorney General of Mississippi; Jeremiah W. (Jay) 
           Nixon, Attorney General of Missouri; Mike McGrath, 
           Attorney General of Montana; Kelly A. Ayotte, Attorney 
           General of New Hampshire; Anne Milgram, Attorney 
           General of New Jersey; Gary King, Attorney General of 
           New Mexico; Roy Cooper, Attorney General of North 
           Carolina; Wayne Stenehjem, Attorney General of North 
           Dakota; Marc Dann, Attorney General of Ohio.
         W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma; Hardy 
           Myers, Attorney General of Oregon; Tom Corbett, 
           Attorney General of Pennsylvania; Patrick C. Lynch, 
           Attorney General of Rhode Island; Henry McMaster, 
           Attorney General of South Carolina; Larry Long, 
           Attorney General of South Dakota; Robert E. Cooper, 
           Jr., Attorney General of Tennessee; Greg Abbott, 
           Attorney General of Texas; Mark Shurtleff, Attorney 
           General of Utah; William H. Sorrell, Attorney General 
           of Vermont.
         Robert McDonnell, Attorney General of Virginia; Rob 
           McKenna, Attorney General of Washington; Darrell V. 
           McGraw, Jr., Attorney General of West Virginia; J.B. 
           Van Hollen, Attorney General of Wisconsin; Bruce A. 
           Salzburg, Attorney General of Wyoming.

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