More Congressmen call for details on U.S. gambling settlements
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Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) have requested more information from the United States Trade Representative on U.S. concessions regarding foreign online gambling and poker operators.
The two high-ranking Congressmen want to learn more about a deal brokered with the EU, Japan and Canada to award compensation for the United States’ lockout of gambling interests, which went against the country’s trade agreements.
According to pokerpages.com:
Referencing articles in the media, and attaching a reference to an article that appeared in CQ Weekly describing how the USTR Office denied a request for the details of the agreement by citing national security, Congressmen Frank and Paul asked:
“If, in fact, there are some additional trade concessions that were made that do have national security implications, we request a secure briefing on those issues. However, if this is merely an attempt to avoid revealing the cost of these trade concessions, either because they would be viewed as too costly by the United States or not costly enough by the negotiating countries, this FOIA denial on the grounds of “national security” would appear to be a misuse of the FOIA process.”
Frank and Paul are hoping to have a response from the USTR in advance of this week’s hearings on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Both Frank and Paul are staunchly anti-UIGEA.
