No immediate action after congressional hearings on internet gambling

Hopefuls who opined that the congressional hearing on internet gambling conducted by the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittee earlier this month would be followed by immediate action on Rep. Joe Barton’s HR2666 poker legalisation bill are in for some disappointment.

This week the chairman of the committee, Rep. Lee Terry, told local media there appeared to be no sense of urgency among his committee members to take immediate action on the for and against evidence presented to them by a selection of witnesses.

“There’s really nothing on the agenda next for this,” said Rep. Lee Terry, R.-Neb., after the hearing. “We are going to see how things are evolving in Nevada and New Jersey and other states.

“Is there really something that forces the feds to get into this right now?” Terry said. “I don’t think a case was really made. When it comes to setting parameters for Internet gambling, where issues of technology and privacy come into play, I don’t know how you can do that.”

Terry said that the committee would be keeping a close eye on developments as the issue continued to evolve.