Congressman Barney Frank has made headlines in the past month for his involvement in the banking bailout bill, but to the world of online gambling he is famous for something else: The Democratic congressman has consistently supported efforts to bring online poker and other games back to U.S. players, after online gambling was driven underground by the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

In an interview published yesterday on Gambling911.com, Frank said that an Obama win, coupled with Democratic gains in the House and Senate, would ensure that H.R. 2046 is not encumbered by Treasury Department regulations supported by the Bush administration. The bill, which has been signed into law, overturns many UIGEA provisions and provides for the licensing of Internet gambling facilities. However, Frank has been critical of additional Treasury regulations, which he says are "unworkable" and would make banks unwilling to process gambling-related transactions.

"With the Obama administration you wouldn't see these bad regulations," Frank reportedly told Gambling911.

Frank is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. His district encompasses several suburban communities outside Boston.

Sources cited, referenced, or consulted: Gambling911, poker-strategy.org, financialservices.house.gov, pokernewsdaily.com, thomas.loc.gov, worldgamblingnews.com, University of Pittsburgh School of Law/Journal of Law and Technology Policy (law.pitt.edu), Brian Cullingworth (gambling911.com).

By Ian Lamont