Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) today warned a House subcommittee that the legalization of Internet poker would enable the spread of gambling to every computer, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows phone in the country.
With today’s technology “it would be like having a casino at your fingertips 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” Wolf said.  “People would be able to gamble in their bathrobes, in their family rooms, at work or in college dorm rooms.”
Long recognized as a staunch opponent of gambling, Wolf warned members of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee of the dangers of the spread of gambling, saying he could “spend all day cataloging story after story of ruined families, bankruptcies, suicides and official corruption.”
Wolf also warned that Internet gambling is not a budget panacea, pointing to a July 2010 New York Times article that reported the social costs of gambling outweigh the revenue by a factor of 3 to 1.
“Although some have disingenuously championed this legislation as a potential budget windfall, I assure you that what tax revenue it generates will overwhelmingly come out of the pockets of the most vulnerable populations,” said Wolf, author of the 1997 legislation creating the National Gambling Commission.
Wolf urged the committee to not weaken the 2006 law banning Internet gambling and said to his Republican colleagues: “For a party that champions families and traditional values, I assure you that Internet gambling is contrary to family values,”
“Gambling is a harmful activity and study after study has shown that for many in our society, there is no question that it is strongly addictive,” Wolf said.