[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Schumer):
  S. 3793. A bill to acknowledge the rights of States with respect to 
sports wagering and to maintain a distinct Federal interest in the 
integrity and character of professional and amateur sporting contests, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, on May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court in 
Murphy v. NCAA, 138 S. Ct. 1461, 2018, struck down the Federal 
prohibition of State-authorized sports wagering schemes. I was one of 
four original authors of that prohibition, the Professional and Amateur 
Sports Protection Act of 1992, Public Law 102-559; 106 Stat. 4227, 
which found that ``sports gambling conducted pursuant to State law 
threatens the integrity and character of, and public confidence in, 
professional and amateur sports, instills inappropriate values in the 
Nation's youth, misappropriates the goodwill and popularity of 
professional and amateur sports organizations, and dilutes and 
tarnishes the service marks of such organizations.''
  Today, I joined with Senator Chuck Schumer to introduce the Sports 
Wagering Market Integrity Act of 2018, a comprehensive legislative 
response to the Murphy decision. This legislation is the product of 
nearly one year of discussions with stakeholders on all sides of the 
issue, the gaming industry, professional and amateur sports leagues, 
consumer advocates, data providers, law enforcement, and many others.
  I would urge my soon-to-be former colleagues and other Members of 
Congress, should they choose to take up this issue, to use the bill I 
have introduced today as a starting point for their work, but recognize 
that there is much work to be done, and I would anticipate that any 
final legislation might look very different from the bill that was 
introduced today. For example, the degree to which the Department of 
Justice or other Federal agencies need to be involved in overseeing 
state sports wagering regimes, the appropriate level of control that 
sports organizations should have over sports wagering, and the basis 
for requiring the use of so-called official league data continue to be 
open questions in my mind. I do not necessarily believe that those and 
other provisions introduced in the bill today reflect a final decision 
regarding the appropriate policy. But these provisions do flag many of 
the difficult issues to be considered as part of the sports wagering 
discussion. I would urge my colleagues not to be discouraged by the 
challenges and competing interests, and I look forward to being 
supportive of future congressional efforts to engage on this issue.

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