WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and
Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) recently introduced bipartisan
legislation, the Restoration of America's Wire Act — S. 2159 in the Senate and
H.R. 4301 in the House — that seeks to restore the long-standing interpretation
of the Wire Act and reverses the Department of Justice's abrupt December 2011
decision to expand online gaming.
NACS
sent a letter to co-sponsors of the bill in both the U.S. House of
Representatives and Senate, explaining why this bill is important to the
convenience store industry, noting that it would restore a long-standing
interpretation of the Wire Act by reversing a Department of Justice decision
that unilaterally expanded online gaming:
“Unfortunately, in late 2011 the Department of Justice
changed nearly 50 years of legal precedent and decided that the Wire Act does
not prevent gambling on the Internet (other than sports betting). Because of
this dramatic change, the Internet is poised to be the Wild West of gambling
with individual states allowing gambling businesses of all kinds to set up shop
online and prey upon vulnerable Americans without any federal check or
consistency.
“Not only would this put kids at risk and dramatically
increase gambling addiction and related problems, but it would devastate NACS
member businesses throughout the country. Among the products NACS members offer
are lottery tickets. NACS members spend substantial time and money ensuring
that they verify age before customers can buy lottery tickets. No website will
be able to replicate that. And, for problem gamblers and those who cannot
afford to lose the money, just the need to leave home, go to a store and deal
with another person in a face- to-face transaction can create some friction on
decisions that they would later regret — certainly more friction than clicking
a mouse in the privacy of home would cause. All of that will be lost if there
are no federal limits on lotteries and other online gambling,” wrote NACS.
Many convenience stores depend on lottery ticket sales to
generate foot traffic inside the store. Furthermore, the
frequent lottery customer purchases additional items when they purchase their
lottery tickets. In fact, on 95% of their store visits, lottery customers
purchased at least one other merchandise product in addition to lottery.
Make sure the convenience and fuel retail industry’s voice
is heard by asking your members of Congress to support S. 2159
in the Senate and H.R. 4301 in the
House through the NACS grassroots website. For more information on this
issue, contact NACS Government Relations Director Jon Taets at jtaets@nacsonline.com.