The Restoration of America’s Wireless Act or HR 707, as it was submitted to the House, was finally reviewed by the Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on March 25, 2015. Initially, the proposed legislation that would ban online gambling on the territory of the United States was to be discussed on March 5, but the hearing was put off due to inclement weather.
At present, only three states provide their residents with online gaming options – New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. According to experts, the future of this sector highly depends on its proponents’ ability to prove that bettors who are not based in the aforementioned territories as well as children can be prevented from engaging in such activities.
RAWA was introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and, reportedly, was keenly supported by casino owner Sheldon Adelson. Yesterday’s hearing on the proposed bill was presided by Rep. Chaffetz himself. Lawmakers were presented with opinions from several witnesses, which, according to many, were not particularly prepared on the topic. In fact, no regulators from Nevada, New Jersey, or Delaware were part of the witness panel.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee from Texas was the first to talk before the Committee. She pointed out that mobile devices can be used for gambling activities and the expansion of online gambling as well as all the effects this might have on residents should be carefully considered.
Parry Aftab, Executive Director of WiredSafety.org, pointed out that the fears minors or people who are not based in the three states that allow online gambling might engage in such activities are ungrounded. Here it is important to note Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware have implemented certain technologies that can prevent this from happening.
John Conyers, who has been lawmaker for quite some time, stated that he opposes RAWA, claiming that states should be allowed to manage online gaming as they please. In other words, they should be in charge of implementing due regulations and monitoring of this sector of the industry.
John Warren Kindt, a law professor at the University of Illinois, pointed out that online gambling would be difficult, if not impossible, to regulate. According to him, it should be kept like “genie in the bottle”. Prof. Kindt’s concerns were shared by Michael Fagan, a professor at the Washington University. They claimed that neither the federal government, nor state ones will be able to effectively regulate and monitor online gambling activities.
As previously mentioned, many believe that RAWA was driven by billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Mr. Adelson, who is currently taking the position of Chairman of casino operator Las Vegas Sands, is known to have helped certain key Republican politicians in the past. Opponents of Rep. Chaffetz’s bill claim that it was introduced as a means for the Republicans to thank the casino owner for his support.
However, Rep. Chaffetz himself commented that this is far from being true.
As it became clear, Las Vegas Sands is among the operators that applaud RAWA. Companies like Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, and MGM, on the other hand, have stated their disapproval of the proposed legislation.
