Antigua Views Were Aired In Banning Debate
Published: Thursday, June 08, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
ANTIGUA VIEWS WERE AIRED IN BANNING DEBATE
And U.S. Chamber of Commerce voiced concerns regarding "enormous burdens" on U.S. banking industry
Antigua and Barbuda have been vociferous on the islands' position following the recent passage through Congressional committees of the controversial Goodlatte and Leach Bills, both of which seek to hamstring the online gambling business in the United States.
During the process, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda was given an opportunity to make written submissions to the Committee in respect of the proposed Bills, it was revealed this week.
Notwithstanding these and other submissions, the Committee nevertheless voted in favour of the Bills, passing them on for further debate.
"The approval by the Judiciary Committee of the so-called 'Goodlatte and Leach Internet Gaming Bills', represents a troubling about-turn by an important arm of the US Government in response to the crystal-clear recommendations and rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)" said Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Finance and the Economy, Dr Errol Cort.
"It would appear from the voting pattern within the Committee, which adopted the Goodlatte Bill by a vote of 25 to 11, that a number of the Committee members had concerns with the Bill in its current form" said the Minister.
"I also note that the US Chamber of Commerce took the extraordinary step of sending a letter to the Committee, which was formally entered into the record of the meeting, in which it highlighted its concerns with the enormous burdens and implications of the proposed legislation on the US banking industry" he added.
The Minister further added that Antigua and Barbuda's written submissions, which were contained in a letter addressed to the Committee, were read in their entirety to the full Committee by Representative Robert Scott of Virginia and formally entered into the Committee's records.
"On an issue of such importance to Antigua and Barbuda's economic diversification programme and the creation of new and sustainable jobs for our young people, I felt that it was important to make our concerns known. Our Ambassador to the WTO, Dr John W. Ashe, was therefore instructed to formally notify the Chairman of the Committee, Representative James Sensenbrenner of Ohio, that, in our view, each Bill is not only non-responsive to the rulings and recommendations of the DSB, but is directly contrary to the DSB rulings in our WTO dispute with the US in several key respects" said the Minister.
Kaye MacDonald, Director of the Division of Gaming, the Directorate of Offshore Gaming, said: "At least, these US lawmakers are aware of the fact that, in our view, the Goodlatte Bill violates international trade laws established by the World Trade Organization. And I share the view that the Goodlatte Bill does not actually target US citizens who engage in Internet gambling but is limited only to the off-shore companies that offer online gambling."
Both Bills will be further considered by a joint sitting of the Judiciary and Banking Committees, which will work to integrate the two Bills before sending a single Bill to the full House of Representatives for final consideration later this year, legislative time permitting.
