October 1, 2008
Gambling Action Alert
HR 6870 Could Overturn Ban on Internet Gambling
We recieved the following Action Alert from the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-4121 and ask to speak to your Congressman. Ask for a NO vote on HR 6870 to reverse the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Action Alert
National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling
Now DBA StopPredatoryGambling.org
For more information, contact NCALG at 800-664-2680 or www.ncalg@ncalg.org
Please contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives and tell them not to turn every home and every office in America into a virtual casino through the legalization of Internet gambling.
Our nation stands at the brink of economic meltdown, with major financial institutions failing and ordinary citizens losing their homes on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. The current economic crisis has been caused by greed and unfettered Wall Street gambling. Lenders, borrowers, and financial institutions have gambled with unsound ventures, not only risking their own futures, but those of the taxpayers who must now bail them out.
One presidential candidate has charged Wall Street exhibits a “casino culture” that has led to this crisis. Incredibly, some in Congress want to use this occasion to promote that same casino culture through an unprecedented expansion of gambling.
Representative Barney Frank chairs the powerful House Finance Committee. Frank has been critical of the bailout legislation proposed by the Administration, insisting on, among other things, protection for ordinary homeowners whose mortgages are at risk of foreclosure. How ironic, then, that Frank, an avid proponent of Internet gambling, should also be leading the charge to legalize this predatory industry. If he is successful, many American homeowners will lose their homes, retirement funds and college savings due to participation in an activity that is generally banned under current U.S. law.
Though he failed earlier this year, a new version of his gambling expansion bill (HR 6870) swept through committee in the furor of last week's economic panic and could easily be attached to other legislation and passed in the few remaining days of this session.
Frank's bill would not only reverse the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 that prohibits financial institutions from funding of illegal Internet gambling; it would reverse long-standing state and Federal laws, including the 1961 Interstate Wire Act, that have banned Internet gambling outright in most circumstances.
Please, simply call or e-mail your Senators and Representatives and tell them you don't want ANY expansion of Internet gambling, and to help STOP Barney Frank's online gambling expansion bill (HR 6870). To find your Representative's and Senators' contact information, go to http://takeaction.lwv.org/lwv/dbq/officials