Political Quotes

“shortly we will be bringing up a very important piece of legislation that will be setting up a national commission to study the impact of gambling which is running rampant in the country. Quite frankly the country is turning into one gambling casino as gambling spreads and spreads and spreads. As gambling proliferates in casinos on riverboats, on Indian reservations, dog and horse tracks and elsewhere, problems such as crime, political corruption, cannibalization of existing businesses, gambling addiction, family breakups, and suicides are growing, which is an unfortunate consequence. This legislation we are about to take up will create an unbiased, bipartisan nine-member commission to finally take a comprehensive look at these problems. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to make sure all the Members know that we have finally been able to bring this bill to fruition. Last Wednesday, July 17, the full Senate passed by unanimous consent H.R. 497 with an amendment and, despite public pronouncements of the gambling industry in support of an unbiased study, tremendous lobbying pressure was brought to bear on Senators to kill or gut this bill.”