FOLLOW THE MONEY - GAMBLING, ETHICS, AND SUBPOENAS

On 3 August 1996, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission Act be came law and established the nine-member National Gambling Impact Stud y Commission. Passed by unanimous voice vote in both the U.S. Senate a nd House of Representatives, the gambling commission was the congressi onal response to a gambling industry whose influence threatened to ove rwhelm not only state and local governmental decision making but also the objectivity of the court system via test cases to expand gambling. This article examines the potential influence of the gambling industr y and its lobbyists. There exist significant congressional fears that the gambling industry could be sufficiently powerful to change U.S. po licy and the economy (locally, regionally, and nationally).