Senators deride online gambling regulations

The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on Internet gambling July 17. Lawmakers say more regulations are needed to prevent children from accessing and money launderers from profiting off of online gambling sites. The committee derided out-of-date regulations that make it easy for almost anyone to bet money online without proving their identity. “Shame on us if we don’t get something done on this because, when I think about the possibility for money laundering, terrorism, drug trafficking and the potential for children to get access to use the Internet as well as people to add to the addiction issue, I hope this is something that we move on very quickly,” said Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). Users of online gaming sites are largely anonymous, which can allow criminals and terrorists to use the websites to hide the sources of their money. Sen Heller thinks that the Obama Administration was trying to help "friends" when it changed rules on Internet gambling in 2011. “The Administration changed all this, changed it all,” he said. “And the reason that the administration changed this was so that their friends in Illinois and New York could put their lottery tickets online.”