Barney Frank and Other Members Ask for Delay Implementing UIGEA Laws

This letter was sent to the Treasury Secretary asking the to postpone the implementation of the UIGEA Laws. We give another big thumbs up for Mr. Frank and his stand with us on the UIGEA and the enforcement of this impossible law.

Washington, DC – Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Peter King (R-NY), Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Melvin Watt (D-NC), Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee Ranking Member Ron Paul (R-TX), and Oversight Subcommittee Ranking Member Judy Biggert (R-IL) – along with 13 other members of the Financial Services Committee – sent a letter yesterday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking them to respond favorably under their Administrative Procedure Act authority to delay implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) regulations for one year.  The members referred to the regulations as an “unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis.”

In May, Chairman Frank introduced legislation to delay the implementation of regulations pursuant to the 2006-passed UIGEA, which are set to go into effect December 1, 2009.  The regulations were completed by the Bush Administration at the last minute, and the legislation will stop federal regulators from enforcing the UIGEA until Congress has had a chance to decide national policy. Chairman Frank has also introduced H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009, that would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses authorizing them to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the United States.

You can see and read the full letter here.