While many in the US believe that legalizing the $10 billion online casino industry will be good for the government, there are some politicians who fight against it vehemently. One major anti online casino activist is Iowa republican Representative James Leach, who recently introduced the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to the US house Committee on Financial Services. His goal is to gain as many supporters to keep the online casino out of the US.
The House of Representatives has been rather quite during the past 10 months on the subject of online casinos. However, Leach, fearing legislation change, raised the issue to his colleagues, requesting them to take more action on the topic. A petition, signed solely by Leach, was sent to the members of Congress; in which he discussed f the potential disadvantages of allowing online casino sites to run from US ground. Saying that he believes that "criminal activities ranging from terrorist financing to tax evasion" will take place on online casino sites.
Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl tried to pass a similar bill recently. Unable to get enough support in the Senate in 2004, Kyl is working on a new petition for 2006. It seems that although there is some opposition by both the Senate and the House, many government officials are waiting to see what progress can be made to legalize at least some aspects of the online casino. In the next few years, if online casinos keep growing as predicted, it seems that the US will have no other option but to allow the industry to root itself into US soil.
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