SENATE FLOOR STATEMENT OF SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY ON THE HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE SPORTS GAMBLING PROHIBITION ACT

February 01, 2000

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the senior senator from Kansas today to introduce legislation to ban all betting on college and high school sporting events, the High School and College Sports Gambling Prohibition Act. The recent report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended this ban and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) strongly supports it to protect the integrity of college sports across the nation. I look forward to working with the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass our bipartisan legislation this year.

Our bipartisan bill would close a loophole in the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. That law prohibits most sports betting on amateur events but continued to grandfather some sports gambling activity that our bill would now prohibit in light of the recent recommendations of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

I believe our legislation is needed to ensure the integrity of college sports across the country. Sports betting puts student athletes in vulnerable positions and threatens their integrity and the integrity of college and Olympic sports. It can devastate individuals and careers. In the past decade, college sports has suffered too many gambling scandals involving student athletes. For example, four football players at Northwestern University pled guilty to perjury charges related to gambling on their own games and, one player admitted to intentionally fumbling near the goal line in a 1994 game against Iowa. Just last year, a California State University at Fullerton student was charged with point shaving after allegedly offering $1,000 to a player on the school's basketball team to shave points in a game against the University of the Pacific. Other sports gambling scandals have rocked the football programs at Boston College and the University of Maryland, and the basketball programs at Arizona State University and Bryant College, in the 1990s.

Legal college sports betting undermines college sports across the country and encourages gamblers to tempt college students into gambling problems and point-shaving schemes. A national ban on college and high school sports betting will send a strong message to students that sports gambling and point shaving schemes will not be tolerated in this country, and it will help prevent these ravages.

In addition, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission found in its June 1999 report that sports wagering has serious social costs. Indeed, the Commission reported: "Sports wagering threatens the integrity of sports, it puts student athletes in a vulnerable position, it can serve as gateway behavior for adolescent gamblers, and it can devastate individuals and careers." A national ban on amateur and college sports betting may help prevent these ravages of sports wagering.

The Commission concluded that legal sports betting spurs illegal gambling, finding "legal sports wagering – especially the publication in the media of Las Vegas and offshore-generated point spreads – fuels a much larger amount of illegal sports wagering." Many newspapers publish point spreads on college games because wagers can be legally placed on college sporting events given the loophole in current law. Point spreads do not contribute to the popularity of sport; they only contribute to the popularity of sports gambling.

As a result of all of these findings, the Commission recommended that "the betting on collegiate and amateur athletic events that is currently legal be banned altogether." I wholeheartedly agree. Closing this loophole is one of the Commission's clearest recommendations, and it is also a step that can find a clear consensus in Congress. In addition, our legislation outlaws betting on competitive games at the Summer or Winter Olympics. The Olympic tradition honors sport at its purest level. We, in turn, should honor that proud tradition by cherishing the integrity of the Olympics and prohibiting gambling schemes on the Summer or Winter Games. There have been enough stories about corruption in connection with bidding on venues for Olympic Games. We do not need a scandal having to do with gamblers seeking to influence the outcome of Olympic events. If we act soon, we have the opportunity to put this into place before the next Olympic games.

During my time in the Senate, I have always tried to protect the rights of Vermont state and local legislators to craft their laws free from interference from Washington. As a defender of states' rights, I carefully considered the imposition of a total Federal ban on high school and college sports. After careful thought I have come to the conclusion that this ban is appropriate. Congress has already established a national policy against high school and college sports betting with passage of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. Our bill closes a loophole in that law.

I want to make it clear that gambling on professional sports is also a serious matter, worthy of national attention. Congress recognized this fact explicitly when it passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 to arrest the growth of state sponsored sports gambling. By focusing our legislation today on amateur sports gambling, we take a first step toward resolving a fundamental problem. In hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I am confident that the companion subject of gambling on professional sports will be addressed.

Mr. President, our bipartisan bill is supported by a broad coalition of organizations dedicated to excellence in education and athletics. I ask unanimous consent that a letter endorsing our legislation from more than 25 of these organizations be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.

Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support the High School and College Sports Gambling Prohibition Act and I urge its swift passage into law.