Online Gambling Bill Gains New Friends in Congress
Support for House of Representatives (HR) Bill 2046, also known as the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA) 2007, has grown this week with five more Congressman voicing their support and agreeing to sponsor the legislation. IGREA was introduced in April by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, also Chairman of the influential House Financial Services Committee, and would license and regulate online gambling in the United States. Online poker and gambling companies licensed under Frank’s bill would be exempt from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was passed in October. 
The latest to add their support include New York Democrat Anthony Weiner and Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson, both members of the US House of Representatives. There is also House Representatives Steven Rothman from New Jersey and Michael Honda from California alongside Maryland Representative Albert Russell Wynn. Earlier, California Democrats Howard L Berman and Bob Filner voiced their support alongside James McGovern, a Democrat from Franks home state. The addition of the latest Representatives grows the current list of co-sponsors to 32, up from the Bill’s original eleven when Frank first introduced the Act to the House. Frank’s aides have repeatedly stated that interested parties calling their political representatives with expressions of support for Franks Bill were having a positive effect in encouraging politicians to re-examine the implications of UIGEA. The Bill needs a total vote of 218 in order to be passed on to the Senate for ratification and, currently -Â Franks Democrat Party controls 53 percent of the Houses 435 seats. 