Congressional Online Poker Hearings Name Witnesses

The witnesses slated to testify at online poker hearings scheduled in the Senate on Thursday and before the House of Representatives on Friday have been named.

Thursday’s oversight hearing entitled “Future of Internet Gaming: What’s at Stake for Tribes?” before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is set to begin at 2:15 p.m. The witness list includes Larry S. Roberts, General Counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission; Honorable Bruce Bozsum, Chairman of the Mohegan Tribe in Uncasville, CT; Honorable Glen Cobin, Vice Chairman of the Tulalip Tribes in Tulalip, WA; Ernie Stevens, Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA); Mark Van Norman, Senior Advisor of the NIGA, will accompany Stevens; Alfonse D’Amato, Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA); John Pappas, PPA Executive Director, will accompany D’Amato; Penny Coleman, Principal at Coleman Indian Law, Washington, DC; and Grant W. Eve. CPA, CFE, Manager of Joseph Eve, Great Falls, MT.

D’Amato and Stevens both testified at the hearing last month before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade that debated the issue of consumer protection in online gaming. This will be their first appearance as witnesses on internet gaming before the Senate. However, D’Amato served three terms as a senator representing New York state.

Friday’s hearing, the second in slightly more than three weeks before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade is chaired by Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and will commence at 9:00 a.m. Scheduled to provide witness testimony for the House hearing are Rep.Frank Wolf (R-Va); Rep. John Campbell (R-CA); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA); Mark Lipparelli, Chairman, Nevada Gaming Control Board; Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., President and CEO of the American Gaming Association; Charles McIntyre, Executive Director, New Hampshire Lottery Commission; and Dr. Rachel A. Volberg, Senior Research Scientist, NORC at the University of Chicago. The hearing’s topic is “Internet Gaming: Regulating in an Online World.”

The hearing is expected to discuss four main issues:

• How effective is current enforcement of online gaming in jurisdictions that have legalized it? How are states preparing to deal with the issue?
• What, if any, forms of interstate online gaming should Congress consider allowing?
• What consumer protections exist for online gaming?
• How would any easing of legal restrictions on internet gaming affect consumers and other stakeholders?

We will provide news regarding the results of both hearings as warranted.