Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) today announced he is cosponsoring legislation to reverse a December 2011 decision by the Obama Administration that opened the door for the expansion of online gambling.
Wolf, long recognized as a staunch opponent of gambling and the author of the legislation that created the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, said he is supporting the bipartisan Restoration of America's Wire Act, H.R. 4301, because online gambling would be like having a casino at your fingertips 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
"People would be able to gamble in their bathrobes, in their family rooms, at work or in college dorm rooms," Wolf said. "There is a big difference between flying to Las Vegas or going to Atlantic City and getting up every morning and turning on your computer, tablet or phone and gambling all day on your couch."
The 2011 decision opened the door for states to allow online poker and other types of online betting that don't involve sports. The opinion came in response to requests by New York and Illinois to clarify whether the Wire Act of 1961, which outlaws wagering over telecommunications lines that cross state or national borders, prevented those states from selling lottery tickets over the Internet.
"The Justice Department's decision in 2001 to overturn its longstanding interpretation of the Wire Act was windfall for the gambling industry," Wolf said. "It was politically motivated and they knew it. Why else would they have announced it the Friday before Christmas when no one was in Washington."
Last month, Attorneys General from 16 states and territories wrote to Congress asking, "that Congress restore the decades-long interpretation of the Wire Act to allow Congress and the states to more fully consider the public policy ramifications of the DOJ's reinterpretation of the Wire Act and to give federal and state law enforcement agencies time to fully assess and report on the implications Internet gambling has on our respective charges to protect the citizens of our states."
Earlier this week the Governors of Texas and South Carolina also wrote to Congress expressing concerns about the 2011 decision.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is the author of the legislation. Identical legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Sponsors in the House other than Wolf include Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO).