Washington, DC (July 27, 2010) – John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, released the following statement in advance of the House Financial Services Committee markup on H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. “With the scheduled markup of legislation protecting the freedom of Americans to play online poker, I urge Republicans and Democrats to strongly consider the outpouring of public support for this issue on the America Speaking Out and Change.gov’s Citizen’s Briefing Book websites as they cast their vote. “Through both of these online efforts, policymakers from both sides of the aisle cite the need for citizens to speak up and, most importantly, for politicians to listen. “On the GOP-driven America Speaking Out, protecting the right to play poker online is the third most popular issue voted on by the public in the site’s Liberty and Freedom section, with over 1,000 votes of support and more than 100 comments. In fact, the only issues with more votes are gun rights and keeping
the government out of citizens’ personal lives – which is exactly what a vote supporting H.R. 2267 will do.
On the other end of the political spectrum, President Obama elicited comments from the American people on their top policy priorities via Change.gov. The result was the Citizen’s Briefing Book, in which boosting America’s economy with legal online poker was the number one technology issue and the 11th most popular issue overall.
Not only has the broad American public made their support for H.R. 2267 clear, but the constituents of the House Financial Services Committee members have been extremely vocal. Since the mark-up of H.R. 2267 was announced last week, thousands of voters have contacted their representatives on the Committee urging their support of this legislation.
“As Financial Services Committee member Rep. Kevin McCarthy said in an op-ed he wrote for CNN.com on May 25th, the American citizens ‘deserve a Congress and a government that puts their priorities and everyday concerns first.’ I think former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the 1.2 million member Poker Players Alliance, said it best in an op-ed last week when he asked ‘Are the politicians listening?’ Members of the Committee can prove to the voters that the answer is yes by supporting H.R. 2267.”
The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of over 1,000,000 online and offline poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game and to protect poker players’ rights.
