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INTERNET GAMBLING: Critics seek crack down
Group calls for Justice Department action
By TONY BATT
lasvegas.com GAMING WIRE
WASHINGTON -- Frustrated by a Congress they say is increasingly beholden to the casino industry, gambling critics are appealing to Attorney General John Ashcroft to establish a Justice Department task force to crack down on Internet gambling.
While legislation in Congress to ban Internet gambling is important, "it is not essential," the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling said in a letter to the attorney general
"We believe the Justice Department can and should stop the bulk of Internet gambling aimed at Americans by sponsoring a few `sting' operations and following up with highly publicized prosecutions," the letter said.
The letter was given to Lori Sharpe, the Justice Department's director of intergovernmental affairs, during an April 5 meeting at the department, according to David Robertson, who is a board member of the anti-gambling coalition.
So far, neither Ashcroft nor his deputies have responded to the letter. Justice Department spokeswoman Casey Stavropoulos said she could find no record of the letter, but confirmed the April 5 meeting did occur.
Gambling opponents remain hopeful that Ashcroft will take the lead in the fight against Internet gambling. "It may take a while to get around to it, but I think, sooner or later, he will," said Bernie Horn, a former lobbyist for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and now policy director for the Center for Policy Alternatives.
Horn and other gambling foes cite Ashcroft's history as an outspoken critic of casinos. Ashcroft's criticism reached a crescendo in a February 1998 speech in Biloxi, Miss., to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference when he called gambling a "cancer on the soul of our nation."
But as a Republican senator from Missouri, Ashcroft was not among 23 co-sponsors of a 1999 bill by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to ban Internet gambling.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who plans to introduce an Internet gambling ban in the next two weeks, has said he is counting on Ashcroft to help him push the bill through Congress.
"We feel our bill is very necessary because there are some gaps in the (1961) Wire Act that need to be filled in," said Goodlatte spokeswoman Michelle Semones. "Today, bets can be placed on computers and over cable and satellites that are wireless. We really do need to clarify the terms of the Wire Act."
Although Ashcroft and President Bush have not made public statements on legalized gambling since the new administration assumed power, they have become more important to gambling foes who believe casinos have bought off congressional leaders in both chambers.
As evidence, gambling critics point to the stalemate on a bill to outlaw betting in Nevada on college sports after the industry contributed $3.9 million to Republican and Democratic party campaign committees for the 2000 election.
Group calls for Justice Department action
By TONY BATT
lasvegas.com GAMING WIRE
WASHINGTON -- Frustrated by a Congress they say is increasingly beholden to the casino industry, gambling critics are appealing to Attorney General John Ashcroft to establish a Justice Department task force to crack down on Internet gambling.
While legislation in Congress to ban Internet gambling is important, "it is not essential," the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling said in a letter to the attorney general
"We believe the Justice Department can and should stop the bulk of Internet gambling aimed at Americans by sponsoring a few `sting' operations and following up with highly publicized prosecutions," the letter said.
The letter was given to Lori Sharpe, the Justice Department's director of intergovernmental affairs, during an April 5 meeting at the department, according to David Robertson, who is a board member of the anti-gambling coalition.
So far, neither Ashcroft nor his deputies have responded to the letter. Justice Department spokeswoman Casey Stavropoulos said she could find no record of the letter, but confirmed the April 5 meeting did occur.
Gambling opponents remain hopeful that Ashcroft will take the lead in the fight against Internet gambling. "It may take a while to get around to it, but I think, sooner or later, he will," said Bernie Horn, a former lobbyist for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and now policy director for the Center for Policy Alternatives.
Horn and other gambling foes cite Ashcroft's history as an outspoken critic of casinos. Ashcroft's criticism reached a crescendo in a February 1998 speech in Biloxi, Miss., to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference when he called gambling a "cancer on the soul of our nation."
But as a Republican senator from Missouri, Ashcroft was not among 23 co-sponsors of a 1999 bill by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to ban Internet gambling.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who plans to introduce an Internet gambling ban in the next two weeks, has said he is counting on Ashcroft to help him push the bill through Congress.
"We feel our bill is very necessary because there are some gaps in the (1961) Wire Act that need to be filled in," said Goodlatte spokeswoman Michelle Semones. "Today, bets can be placed on computers and over cable and satellites that are wireless. We really do need to clarify the terms of the Wire Act."
Although Ashcroft and President Bush have not made public statements on legalized gambling since the new administration assumed power, they have become more important to gambling foes who believe casinos have bought off congressional leaders in both chambers.
As evidence, gambling critics point to the stalemate on a bill to outlaw betting in Nevada on college sports after the industry contributed $3.9 million to Republican and Democratic party campaign committees for the 2000 election.