Five More Sponsors For Anti-UIGEA Bill

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Support for Congressman Frank's bid to regulate online gambling in the USA grows

July has been a good month for Congressman Barney Frank, Chairman of the influential House Financial Services Committee and author of Bill HR 2046 the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act which proposes the regulation and taxation of Internet gambling in the United States instead of banning the pastime.

Five more Congressman have signed on to the Bill as sponsors, including Representatives Anthony D. Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) who attached their support to the bill July 10, and Representatives Steven R. Rothman (D-N.J.), Michael M. Honda (D-Calif.) and Albert Russell Wynn (D-Md.) who signed up late last week.

The addition of the latest representatives grows the current list of co-sponsors to 32, up from the bill's original 11 when Frank first introduced the Act to the House in April.

The new sign-ups join the following politicians who have previously signed up to support the Frank bill, which calls for online gambling in the United States to be taxed and regulated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Alcee L. Hastings
Don Young
Gary L. Ackerman
Howard L. Berman
James McGovern
Julia Carson
Joseph Crowley
Bob Filner
Luis V. Gutierrez
Peter T. King
Jim McDermott
James McGovern
Charlie Melancon
Ed Perlmutter
Linda T Sanchez
Melvin L. Watt
Shelly Berkley
Michael Capuano
Wm. Lacy Clay
Steve Israel
Carolyn McCarthy
Ron Paul
Ross Carnahan
Ciro D. Rodriguez
Edolphus Towns
Robert Wexler
Vito Fossella

Frank's aides have repeatedly said that interested parties calling their political representatives with expressions of support for the Frank bill were having a positive effect in encouraging politicians to re-examine the implications of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and the alternatives which HR 2046 presents.

If passed, Frank's bill will neutralise the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, signed into law by U.S. president George Bush last October. The UIGEA prohibits financial transactions from banks and credit card companies to Internet casinos, poker rooms and sports betting sites, and has been described by Frank and other politicians as "preposterous," "one of the stupidest laws ever passed by Congress" and as an invasion of American personal freedom.