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Wexler Bill to Legalize Online Poker Gains 21st Co-Sponsor
Sun, Dec 23rd, 2007 @ 12:00am
Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) got a boost this week for his proposed legislation to make 'skill' games, including poker, mah-jongg, bridge, and chess, exempt from current laws aimed to stop online gambling in the USA, when Representative Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ) signed up as the bill's 21st co-sponsor.
Wexler's HR 2610 bill, entitled 'The Skill Game Protection Act' would add language to existing laws, like the UIGEA, that defines poker and certain other games as games of skill. It would also allow adults 18 and older to play real-money skill games online (read related article).
The bill also calls for a system to tax and regulate all real-money skill games to assure they remain fair and to prevent minors and compulsive gamblers from playing.
Representative Andrews is a seasoned politician as well as a former attorney and law professor. He is currently serving his tenth Congressional term, with experience on committees such as Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness and Education and Labor, where he is currently chairman. The representative is also a member of the House Armed Services committee and subcommittees on Oversight and Investigations, Terrorism and Unconventional Threats and the House Budget Committee.
Wexler's bill has been steadily and quietly gaining support, though it has been overshadowed to some extent by the more all encompassing Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA), HR 2046, proposed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), which seeks to license and regulate online gambling within the United States.
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