House members push online gambling bill sought by donor Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson wants to stop Internet gambling

Fredreka Schouten | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Several House lawmakers Wednesday moved forward with a measure to stop online gambling's spread — a bill pushed by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who is one of the Republican Party's biggest donors.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and seven other House members are reintroducing a measure that would rescind a 2011 Justice Department opinion that found that the 1961 federal Wire Act used to curb online gambling applies only to sports betting.

The bill is backed by six Republicans and one Democrat, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and marks the second time Chaffetz has introduced the proposal.

Chaffetz called the Justice Department's action "a massive policy change without debate or input from the people or their representatives" and noted that 16 attorneys general have asked Congress to act.

Adelson, who oversees a gambling empire that stretches from the USA to China, has argued against online gambling on moral grounds. The Adelson-backed Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling warns of children gambling on their smartphones and tablets.

Adelson also has clout on Capitol Hill, after contributing more than $90 million in 2012 in an effort to elect Republicans to the White House and Congress. Just weeks before last November's congressional elections, he donated $5 million to a super PAC working to grow the GOP's House majority.

Three states — Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada — have legalized Internet gambling in recent years.

Pro-gambling organizations have slammed Adelson's involvement. John Pappas, executive director of The Poker Players Alliance, said online gambling "has not led to the downfall of Western society" and argued that legalization should be left up to the state leaders.

Chaffetz's bill, Pappas said, represents "the worst kind of crony capitalism that favors a mega-political campaign donor over what's in the best interest if the states and their consumers."

Adelson's aides did not immediately respond to interview requests.