$3 million to lobby Congress to overturn an
Internet gambling ban, or at least carve out an
exemption that would legalize and regulate online
poker.The NFL, with a lobbying effort of its own
here, says such legalized gambling would be a
threat to the "integrity of our game.''Certainly,
overseas. But half of that $16 billion is from bettors in the United States.The poker alliance,
chaired by former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), gets its money from the Interactive Gaming
Council, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based trade association for online casinos, as well as from
Internet ban. Last year, the league hired a lobbyist and started a political action committee to
make campaign donations.At issue is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which
institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to
settle online wagers.In the last congressional session, House Financial Services Committee
Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) pushed unsuccessfully to repeal the ban. Frank plans to try
again soon, a committee spokeswoman said.The outspoken D'Amato was a natural choice to lead
the
Casino Poker Bonuses Players Alliance, even though his former GOP colleagues pushed the
gambling ban. As a senator, D'Amato organized poker games with staffers and lobbyists in his
office."How dare you come into my house and tell me what I can and can't do on the Internet!"
D'Amato says."The Republican conservatives, who basically say" -- and at this point, he shifts his
tone to a mock, nagging voice, "'We want less government,' come in and intrude, and they say,
'No, you can't do this.'"It's a cause for personal choice and freedom that I've always thought
epitomizes what this country's about," added D'Amato.NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said if
understand that illegal gambling currently occurs, but there is little we can do about that,"
McCarthy said. "However, we can exercise our right to oppose Internet betting on our games. ...
Gambling on our games -- online or off line -- threatens the integrity of our games and all the
values they represent."Other sports backed the 2006 ban, as well, including the NCAA and
professional baseball, basketball and hockey, but the NFL led the effort. The Christian Coalition
also reported lobbying to preserve the ban.The NFL has opposed gambling on pro football for
many years. Pete Rozelle, commissioner from 1960 to 1989, feared tampering by organized
crime.D'Amato said he had no problem with letting leagues ban betting on their games, but
argued that online poker should be legal."What about the elderly, who have no ability to travel?"
he asked. "You're going to say to them that a form of entertainment ... they should be precluded
from because Big Brother says no?"Former Rep. Jim Leach, an Iowa Republican who helped
write the law, called Internet gambling "a double-whammy for society. It is so seductively habit-
forming that individuals can in short order lose their homes and jobs and, indeed, their families
and futures. And the effects on individuals rebound into society."
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