Political Quotes

“2 weeks ago The Washington Post did a front page story about how the gambling industry targets one of our Nation's most vulnerable groups, our senior citizen population. According to the article, it says, ``Casinos are trying harder than ever to attract retirees. Some are dispatching buses to senior centers or vans to trailer parks and timing their offers for free rides to coincide with the arrival of Social Security checks.'' The gambling industry goes to great lengths to prey on our Nation's most vulnerable groups, the young, the poor, and perhaps most frequently the elderly. A national survey recently revealed over one-half of all senior citizens had gambled recently. This is more than double the rate of one generation ago. The gambling industry targets this audience because they have two attractive attributes: time and money. Often those who are lonely become quickly addicted. It is not long before the marketing strategy succeeds as gambling eats up seniors' life savings and Social Security checks. Mr. Speaker, while I was saddened to read this story, I was not surprised.”