Debate over banning online gaming moves forward
By Amber Phillips, Las Vegas Sun
WASHINGTON — In a choose-your-own-facts debate, a Sheldon Adelson-backed bill to ban online gaming got its first airing in Congress with a controversial hearing Wednesday.
Ban proponents, led by powerful members of Congress, argued that allowing online gaming to continue would degrade America’s morality by proliferating gaming.
“Every home in America is potentially a casino,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat.
Opponents of the ban, which include several state lottery officials and representatives for almost every major casino except Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands, say a ban would push online gambling further underground and contribute to a $3 billion illegal offshore online gaming industry.
