Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is reportedly about to introduce a bill to Congress to rewrite the Wire Act of 1961 and effectively ban online gambling and online poker in the U.S.
The report came from an interview the South Carolina moderate gave to Gambling Compliance—a group which tracks gambling legislation worldwide.
The report says a bill is coming soon, but no draft language has been released.
Graham said he is firmly against any form of online betting and also opposes exempting online poker from any ban. He said he would oppose efforts to allow poker-only federal regulation that would still ban all other online gaming options.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and junior Senator Dean Heller of Nevada are reportedly planning to introduce legislation that would allow for only online poker to be legalized.
At this point, Graham’s move appears to be separate from casino executive Sheldon Adelson’s attempt to institute an online gambling ban in the U.S. Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., has been funding a national push to ban online gambling.
It is also unclear how a federal ban would affect the three states—Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey—that have already legalized online gambling.
