Jon L. Christensen: “I rise in support of H.R. 3004, the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act and applaud its sponsors for their work on this…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 3004, the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act and applaud its sponsors for their work on this comprehensive bipartisan legislation, which seeks to declare financial war on terrorists. I am pleased as well, that the bill does not include language banning Internet gambling because of the impact that such a ban will have on my district, which is exploring Internet gaming as a means of stimulating our stagnant local economy. While I have my own personal reservations about gambling generally, I must accede to the wishes of my constituents and local legislature, which earlier this year passed legislation to make Internet gaming legal in the U.S. Virgin Islands. My colleagues, one of the disturbing trends in our present economy has been that when the mainland was experiencing boom times, the economies of the offshore areas of our country--the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and Puerto Rico--did not share in this boom. Additionally, with the events of September 11 dramatically contributing to the then downturn in our national economy, the tourism dependent economy of the Virgin Islands has been decimated. It is because of this that the Government of the Virgin Islands has looked at Internet gambling as a means of stimulating our local economy.”