Patrick McHenryChairman

WASHINGTON, December 1, 2008 -

Ranking Member Spencer Bachus made the following statement today following reports in The Washington Post and CBS's 60 Minutes about illegal Internet gambling.

"My concern is for our youth who are subject to becoming addicted to gambling at an early age. If you put a computer in a teenager's bedroom, or in a student's dorm room at college, it's a temptation that many fall prey to.

"Off-shore Internet gambling sites operating in the United States are all illegal and therefore, by definition, they are run by criminals. When you deal with criminals, you should expect to be cheated and taken advantage of.

"Those who have opposed my efforts to stop these criminal activities have claimed that these are simply games of skill in which adults should be allowed to compete against each other without hindrance.

"The revelations in The Washington Post and 60 Minutes stories show once and for all that these are criminal enterprises and that like all operations run by criminals, they steal from those who become involved with them.

"Hopefully, the publication of this information will warn people to avoid these unsafe gambling sites, but it is welcome news that the regulations to enforce the provisions of the law we adopted two years ago to stop these criminal activities are finally being put into effect."

# # #