Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in 2011, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, OLC, issued a legal opinion reversing 50 years of interpretation of the Wire Act. Lawyers there concluded the act does not ban gambling over the Internet, as long as the betting is not on the outcome of a sporting event. In effect, this opinion means the Justice Department has stopped enforcing a law it had consistently enforced for five decades. Left on its own, the DOJ opinion could usher in the most fundamental change in gambling in our lifetimes by turning every smartphone, tablet, and personal computer in our country into casinos available 24/7. The FBI has warned online casinos are susceptible to use for money laundering and other criminal activity, and online casinos are bound to prey on children and society's most vulnerable. It took Congress a decade to develop the Wire Act. It took Congress 7 additional years to enact the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the 2006 law giving law enforcement new tools to shut down online casinos. DOJ's opinion gutted both laws. Despite the wide-ranging implications of this opinion, there was no solicitation of public comment, nor any input sought from State and local officials. There is also no indication the Department considered the very significant law enforcement, social, and economic issues raised by Internet gambling.…”