WASHINGTON (November 5) -  Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6) says a ban on illegal Internet gambling scheduled to take full effect next month should not be delayed. 

Bachus, who is Ranking Member on the Financial Services Committee, and Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opposing a request from the gambling industry to delay the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) by a year. The law, which was overwhelmingly approved in 2006, directed Treasury and the Federal Reserve to issue regulations by July 10, 2007. After an extensive, prolonged and fair process, the final rules implementing UIGEA are set to go into effect on December 1, 2009. 

In the letter, Bachus and Kyl said, "There is no justification for delaying the compliance date for the long-overdue regulations implementing UIGEA." 

"If the Final Rule represented an ‘unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry,' as certain other Members have claimed, then the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve could have reconsidered the regulations early in the new Administration and before the regulated industry began taking steps to comply. This did not happen, and members of the financial services industry did not petition to have the Final Rule amended," said Bachus and Kyl. 

"We do believe that the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve should carefully monitor the effectiveness of the UIGEA regulations after they go into effect, and consider modifications should they prove necessary. But simply delaying the compliance date serves no interest except that of the Internet gambling enterprises that have long evaded American gambling laws and will continue to do so until effective enforcement is in place," said Bachus and Kyl. 

Bachus is an author of the law, which was passed after testimony that detailed the harmful effects illegal online gambling has on young people.

Click here to view a copy of the letter.