Sen. Lindsey Graham tries to pull a fast one by including failing RAWA language in a major Appropriations bill
In a sly move that could rank with the 2006 passage of the UIGEA attached to a security bill, failed presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham has inserted language from the rapidly failing Restoration of America's Wire Act in a massive federal Appropriations Bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
RAWA is widely believed to be the work of lobbyists engaged by anti-online gambling land casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who has been trying unsuccessfully to push the measure through both the House and Senate of the US Congress for the past three years.
Media reports from the USA Monday claimed that Graham received support from Adelson for his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination this year, and in a quid pro quo has inserted the internet gambling ban provision into the spending bill.
The RAWA language was inserted into the huge spending bill in the Senate "at the request of Senator Graham," according to Senate Appropriations Committee spokesperson Chris Gallegos.
Here is the language that Graham has inserted into the Appropriations bill:
"Internet Gambling — Since 1961, the Wire Act has prohibited nearly all forms of gambling over interstate wires, including the Internet. However, beginning in 2011, certain states began to permit Internet gambling. The Committee notes that the Wire Act did not change in 2011. The Committee also notes that the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that 'criminal laws are for courts, not for the Government, to construe."
Unfortunately for Graham and his sponsor, the Appropriations Bill sleight-of-hand did not go unnoticed (political lobbyists are especially alert for these kind of moves following the late night UIGEA debacle in 2006)
The Senate version of the Appropriations Bill now moves to the House Appropriations Committee, where it is expected to attract comment and possibly be removed from the Appropriations measure by chairman Rep. John Culberson before it can progress to a Conference Committee to iron out any Senate – House differences.
UPDATE: The gigantic 100-plus page bill S,2837 is officially titled, "Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, And Related Agencies Appropriations Bill," and authorises billions of dollars in government spending. It's a large and complicated document that few will read in its entirety, something Graham is probably betting on.
Political observers note that It does nothing to actually change the law, but that it could be used to prepare the ground for a future online gambling ban.
They say that the plan could be to get the language included in a House version of the bill, and then progress both bills with a request that the law be amended to include a ban, a political procedural tactic known as an "air drop" because neither house will have voted on the isolated language of the addition within the bill…only the bill itself.
The final version of the bill is presented for a final vote in its entirety, requiring lawmakers to vote negatively or positively for the whole measure, and making it difficult if not impossible to strip out special interest earmarks that may not be relevant to the main thrust of the bill at all.
Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa
