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Speaking Out in the Wake of Defeat
 

Congressman Barney Frank has been very vocal over the past two days, since the media announced all over the country that the much anticipate HR 5767 bill and the King Amendment were defeated in a vote by the House Financial Services Committee. The Committee looked at the issue on Wednesday, but discussions and debates centered on morality, emotional, and anti-online casino gambling arguments rather than the specific details within the bill. With the announcement of a defeat, the online casino gambling industry is left wondering what is the next step from here?

Barney Franks comments have really revolved around the effect that the bill’s defeat will have on the banking and financial services sectors. Without HR 5767 in affect, coupled with the King Amendment, the banking industry is strapped with the very real task of not only defining illegal internet gambling, but then creating a process to then classify the transactions with online casinos and block the illegal transactions. Frank observed, "The financial institutions are in the position of being told not process bets, but it's not clear what is legal and what is illegal.” The major argument for HR 5767 is to protect the banking industry from becoming the main enforcement arm of the UIGEA.

To that end, the banking industry fully backs the clarifications that the King Amendment would have provided for the industry on correctly identifying online casino gambling transactions. The CEO and president of the Financial Services Roundtable, Steve Bartlett also noted the undue stress placed on the banking industry. He remarked, “I wish to be clear that we do not support the notion that financial services companies should be 'deputized' to police gambling activity in any form or function. While we would support the passage of H.R. 5767 as introduced, I agree that the King Amendment makes essential improvements to a deeply flawed law and therefore support its inclusion.”

But even the outspoken support from various industries was not enough to sway the Republicans, who continued to view HR 5767 and the King Amendment as a black and white issue of legalizing online casino gambling, rather than attempts to fix existing problematic legislation.