Washington, D.C., June 5… On Thursday 25th May 2006 the influential Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives met to consider the so called ‘Goodlatte and Leach Internet Gaming Bills’. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda was given an opportunity to make written submissions to the Committee in respect of the proposed Bills. Notwithstanding these and other submissions, the Committee nevertheless voted in favour of the Bills.

“The approval by the Judiciary Committee of the so-called ‘Goodlatte and Leach Internet Gaming Bills’, represents a troubling about turn by an important arm of the US Government in response to the crystal clear recommendations and rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),” said Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Finance and the Economy, the Honourable Dr. L. Errol Cort.

“It would appear from the voting pattern within the Committee, which adopted the Goodlatte Bill by a vote of 25 to 11, that a number of the Committee members had concerns with the Bill in its current form,” said the Minister. “I also note that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce took the extraordinary step of sending a letter to the Committee, which was formally entered into the record of the meeting, in which it highlighted its concerns with the enormous burdens and implications of the proposed legislation on the US banking industry,” he added. 

The Minister further added that Antigua and Barbuda’s written submissions, which were contained in a letter addressed to the Committee, were read in their entirety to the full Committee by Representative Robert Scott of Virginia and formally entered into the Committee’s records.

 “On an issue of such importance to Antigua and Barbuda’s economic diversification programme and the creation of new and sustainable jobs for our young people, I felt that it was important to make our concerns known. Our Ambassador to the WTO, Dr. John W. Ashe, was therefore instructed to formally notify the Chairman of the Committee, Representative James Sensenbrenner of Ohio, that, in our view, each Bill is not only non-responsive to the rulings and recommendations of the DSB, but is directly contrary to the DSB rulings in our WTO dispute with the US in several key respects,” said the Minister.

WTO Ambassador Dr. John W. Ashe confirmed that a letter was sent to Chairman Sensenbrenner informing him that the “Goodlatte Bill” was cast as an amendment to the federal criminal statute known as the “Wire Act,” and is designed to expand the coverage of the Wire Act to most types of gambling services offered over the Internet.

He further noted that while the “Leach Bill” does not expressly purport to prohibit any class of remote gambling and betting or further criminalize remote betting per se, it sought to criminalize facilitation of or participation in certain financial transactions associated with what the legislation defines as “unlawful Internet gambling.”  The Goodlatte Bill also includes prohibitions on certain financial transactions similar to those contained in the Leach Bill in its proposed amendments to the Wire Act.

Kaye MacDonald, Director of the Division of Gaming, the Directorate of Offshore Gaming, said:
“At least, these US lawmakers are aware of the fact that, in our view, the Goodlatte Bill violates international trade laws established by the World Trade Organization. And I share the view that the Goodlatte Bill does not actually target US citizens who engage in Internet gambling but is limited only to the off-shore companies that offer online gambling.”

Mark Mendel, Legal Adviser to the Government on its WTO case also expressed concerns with the ‘Leach Bill,” which he notes is intended to “…amend the US federal criminal code to prohibit persons engaged in the business of betting or wagering from knowingly accepting credit, electronic fund transfers, checks, drafts, or similar instruments, or the proceeds of any other financial transaction in connection with unlawful Internet gambling.”

Both Bills will be further considered by a joint sitting of the Judiciary and Banking Committees, which will work to integrate the two Bills before sending a single Bill to the full House of Representatives for final consideration.