Chaffetz, Gabbard Work to Restore America's Wire Act

Washington. D.C. – In an effort to reverse the Department of Justice’s abrupt 2011 decision expanding online gaming, Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) today introduced Restoration of America’s Wire Act.

This bipartisan legislation will restore the long-standing interpretation of the Wire Act and is a response to concerns expressed by many state Attorneys General about the impact of the DOJ decision on their states. Utah and Hawaii are the only two states in the U.S. to reject all forms of gambling.
 
“In yet another example of executive branch overreach, the DOJ crossed the line by making what amounts to a massive policy change without debate or input from the people or their representatives.  We must restore the original interpretation of the Wire Act. If there is justification and support for a change, the Constitution designates Congress as the body to debate that change and set that policy,” said Chaffetz.

“Congress has the responsibility to debate these regulations openly and should not allow bureaucrats to unilaterally change the law behind closed doors. Until that debate takes place, Congress must restore the long-standing interpretation of the Wire Act.  The FBI and state attorneys general from different parts of the country have raised multiple concerns about this new change. This bill restores protections against criminal activity which existed in the pre-2011 interpretation of the law,” said Gabbard.

On February 4th of 2014, Attorneys General from 16 states and territories wrote to Congress asking, “that Congress restore the decades-long interpretation of the Wire Act to allow Congress and the states to more fully consider the public policy ramifications of the DOJ’s reinterpretation of the Wire Act and to give federal and state law enforcement agencies time to fully assess and report on the implications Internet gambling has on our respective charges to protect the citizens of our states.”  (View full letter here)
 
Additionally, in 2009 the FBI expressed similar concerns about fraud and money laundering by criminal elements. In 2014 the Governors of Texas and South Carolina also wrote to Congress expressing concerns about the Department of Justice’s decision. Identical legislation was introduced in the 113th Congress.

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