wfn.org | Gambling study won by cooperation

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3135 notes).

Note 3134 by UMNS on Aug. 22, 1996 at 15:11 Eastern (2857 characters).

SEARCH:   Gambling, study, impact, commission, Grey
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

Contact:  Joretta Purdue                          420(10-71){3134}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           Aug. 22, 1996

Gambling foe praises cooperative efforts
to achieve commission to study industry impact

     WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- A United Methodist leader in the fight
against gambling attributes the creation of a gambling study
commission by the U.S. Congress to cooperative efforts of many
groups and individuals.
     The Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the Coalition
Against Legalized Gambling, said, "Everyone worked hard on this
one, and we worked together."
     Senators Paul Simon (D-Ill.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and
Representatives Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) led the efforts for the bill
in Congress although by the time it came to a vote the House bill
had more than 100 co-sponsors, Grey said.
     Both Republican and Democratic members of Congress were moved
to action by the widespread grassroots support for the National
Gambling Impact Study Commission Act, he explained. The Christian
Coalition joined United Methodists and members of other
denominations in urging its passage.
     Both Grey and Mark Harrison, who coordinated United Methodist
efforts for the denomination's Board of Church and Society,
expressed gratitude to the United Methodists who wrote and called
their Congressional representatives to press for passage of this
bill. "Without them it wouldn't have happened," Harrison declared.
     The act, passed by Congress in late July and signed into law
by the President in early August, establishes a nine-member
commission to serve for two years. 
     The commission, to be appointed by Congress and the
President, is charged with assessing the economic and social
consequences of organized gambling whether under the auspices of
government, business or charity.
     Various types of gambling will be studied, including betting
via the internet.
     Subpoena power is granted to the commission by the
legislation, with some limits to protect privacy.
     "We fought every inch of the way against a $4 million lobby,"
Grey said. "It shows how things can be done, if you've got what I
call the truth on your side. The truth was that gambling needed to
be studied."
     Grey would like to see a moratorium on any expansion of
legalized gambling until the study is completed and the results
known. 
     The battle is not over, he said, pointing to several states
where gambling will be an issue this fall. These include Iowa,
Michigan, Illinois, Arkansas, Louisiana and perhaps Oklahoma and
Nebraska.
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