Happy Birthday Barney Frank!
Online gambling's biggest ally, Barney Frank, is celebrating his 69th birthday today in style. He's working! TMZ.com caught up with Congressman Frank at the elevator banks of Capital Hill on Tuesday. When asked if he had received any nice gifts today, Frank - always the comedian - said that "we are not allowed to accept gifts".
Frank, who is openly gay, also told TMZ.com he planned on spending the later part of the day going out to dinner with his boyfriend.
In 2007 Frank became the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (when the Democratic Party won a majority in the House of Representatives). The committee oversees the housing and banking industries. Since that time, Frank has been front and center of the financial crisis.
Frank has also partnered with Ron Paul in support of online gambling rights. In 2006, both strongly opposed H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, and H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. To restore online gambling rights, in 2007 Frank sponsored H.R. 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act. This bill would have established licensing and regulation of online gaming sites. It provided for age verification and protections for compulsive gamblers. In 2008, he and Paul introduced H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act, a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the United States Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling". As a result of these efforts, Frank (who does not gamble) has become a hero to poker players and online gamblers, including many Republicans.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
