|
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has asked Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson to postpone issuing regulations opposed by banks and other
financial groups that would implement a ban on Internet gambling. The “midnight rulemaking” would “tie the hands of the new
administration, burden the financial services industry at a time of economic
crisis and contradict the stated intent of the Financial Services Committee,”
Frank wrote in a letter to Paulson and Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the
Federal Reserve.
Frank, a critic of banning Internet gambling, wrote that
he was “deeply disappointed” that Treasury was proceeding “with what I consider
to be unseemly haste” in issuing the regulations, which implement the Unlawful
Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
“I strongly urge you to delay implementation of these
major, and deeply flawed regulations to permit the incoming administration the
ability to review the consequences of such a significant policy decision,
rather than unfairly being denied that opportunity,” Frank wrote.
Frank’s committee approved legislation that prohibits the
regulations’ implementation, and would replace the proposed rules with a formal
rulemaking process that would define the term “unlawful Internet gambling.”
That bill did not clear the House or Senate.
The administration has been working to implement a host
of regulations on a broad array of subjects before it leaves power, something
typical of administrations on the way out the door. The administration’s
proposed rules on gambling would go into effect on Jan. 19, according to Frank.
In April, representatives of the American Bankers
Association and the Financial Services Roundtable, among other groups, raised
their opposition to proposed rules implementing the gambling ban. They argued
the rules would not prevent Internet gambling and would force banks to
determine what kind of transactions constituted illegal Internet gambling.
Professional sports leagues, including the National
Football League, lobbied for the Internet gambling law. Last week, Rep. Steve
Cohen (D-Tenn.) asked White House Counsel Fred Fielding to detail the role a
former NFL lobbyist had in the administration’s decision to move forward with
the rules. In a letter, Cohen said Deputy Director of Public Liaison William
Wichterman, a former NFL lobbyist, “had been a source of considerable political
pressure to speed this regulation through.”
Cohen wrote that the appearance of a conflict of interest
“is undeniable.”
Senate records show Wichterman listed as a lobbyist for
the NFL in early 2008, when he worked for Covington and Burling LLP.
|
