September 19, 2008 (InfoPowa News) — The dust had hardly settled on this week's House Financial Services Committee approval of Barney Frank's HR 6870 Payments System Protection Act (see previous report) when the Poker Players Alliance announced its support for the latest attack on the UIGEA — amendments and all.
In a statement issued immediately after news of the favorable vote broke Tuesday, the PPA chairman, former U.S. Senator Alphonse D'Amato, said: "The PPA is pleased that the House Financial Services Committee today recognized the need to provide clarification to what constitutes 'unlawful Internet gambling' under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by passing H.R. 6870.
"This bipartisan compromise bill … also appropriately requires a formal rulemaking, overseen by an administrative law judge, to provide the clarification requested of the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve, among others, as to the definition of 'unlawful Internet gambling.'
"The PPA congratulates the Republicans and Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee on reaching this strong compromise bill, and we look forward to enactment of this sound public policy during this legislative session.
"We thank Chairman Frank for his continued leadership on this important issue of protecting individual rights and personal responsibility."
Following its successful mark-up passage through the Financial Services Committee, the latest Frank initiative may now be debated on the floor of the House of Representatives. However, this is by no means certain with a full schedule, an election looming and a deadline of September 26, when Congressional leaders hope to wrap up the current session barring any 'lame duck' business.
The Financial Services Committee 30-19 vote illustrated the divergence of opinion among politicians within the Republican and Democrat parties, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In a vote taken mere hours after the end of the mark-up session, 23 Democrats and seven Republicans voted in favour of HR 6870, whilst 2 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted against the proposal.