Barney Frank Moves to Repeal UIGEA

Pro-gambling Congressman Barney Frank (D - MA) announced Sunday that he is determined to lift the federal ban on gambling. He was speaking at a press conference in which he presented his agenda for financial reform.

"I'm going to be pushing it," Franks said. "The existing legislation is an inappropriate interference on the personal freedom of Americans and this interference should be undone."

Frank, who is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has been the most vocal campaigner against the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which effectively banned Internet gambling by outlawing the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites.

Frank's announcement came just a week after a study prepared by international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that the United States could raise nearly $52 billion in revenue in the next decade if it lifts its ban on online gambling and taxed it instead.

PWC's figures were based on the effects of the hypothetical passing into law of HR 2046, the "Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007," which provides for the licensing and regulation of lawful Internet gambling by the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the US Department of the Treasury, and HR 2607, a companion bill to HR 2046 that would impose a fee on companies licensed to provide online gambling services in the US.