House schedules Net gambling vote

The House of Representatives has scheduled for Tuesday afternoon a vote to block Internet gambling, a week after prominent Republicans and Democrats derailed a planned vote on the bill by pledging to oppose it. This time, in an effort to muster broader support, the House Rules Committee has permitted three amendments to the proposal.

Currently the bill, approved on May 21 by the Financial Services Committee, would give federal regulators six months to devise regulations to restrict financial transactions related to Internet gambling. The amendments would exempt credit cards from the list of transactions covered by the regulations, affirm that current laws regulating gambling will remain intact, and broaden the definition of bets and wagers covered by the bill.