Lott assures betting bill is on agenda
Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has signaled he intends to clear a path for a Senate vote on a bill that would ban betting on college sports.
The bill could surface for debate as early as next week, or the week of July 10, said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Reid said Lott, who controls much of the action on the Senate floor, intends to fulfill a commitment to Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan. Lott told them they could pursue their bills that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada, which would hurt casino profits.
"It's a bill that Sen. Lott would really like to see done," a Lott spokesman said Wednesday.
McCain, Brownback and other bill supporters say the legislation would curb game fixing and rampant betting by college students.
Nevada's members in Congress strongly disagree and have battled the bill since its inception this year.
"We'll be ready as we always are," Reid said today.
The Senate has been busy with appropriations bills and a variety of other matters lately. Meanwhile McCain and Brownback have searched for a way to force a vote on the betting ban bill.
Both considered attaching the bill as an amendment to an unrelated defense spending bill. On Wednesday it became clear they had abandoned that strategy, likely at the request of Lott, who would prefer to see the betting ban legislation as a free-standing bill.
Reid said, "Our strategy doesn't change. It doesn't make it any easier for us. It doesn't make it any harder, either."
Reid and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., could filibuster before the bill is debated in an attempt to stop it.
Bryan said the bill likely would pass by a wide margin if it came down to a vote on an unamended version of the legislation.
It's also possible other senators might try to attach non-relevant amendments, which could sink the bill in the end.
"That would be very helpful to us," said Bryan, who intends to attach amendments of his own. "That would take time and the question is, how much time is Sen. Lott prepared to allocate to this bill?"
The Senate still has pressing appropriations bills to complete and just nine weeks of work left this year.
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Ensign moves out of home on C Street
- Cada and Moon emerge as Main Event’s final two
- Fight snapshot: Reviewing “24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto,” episode 3
- Life in the Limelight: Wayne Newton
- Cities, county find buying valley homes isn’t easy
- Motorcyclist dies in Summerlin crash
- UNLV wins hoops scrimmage at Long Beach State
- Six people share their stories of what led them to jobs at CityCenter
- Fedor Emelianenko TKOs Brett Rogers in second round
- Two injured in shooting in central valley
Blogs
Elsewhere
Findlay Prep's Bradley fitting in at Texas
Now and Then
I went to a hockey game and a New Mexico women's soccer match broke out
Politics: The Early Line
Attention in D.C. focuses on health care proposals
Elsewhere
Fedor v. Rogers delivers solid ratings on CBS (4 Comments)
Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity
If you can rebuild the whole car, then why not allow an engine change? (1 Comment)
Sports: Upon Further Review
Fight snapshot: Pacquiao is a hit with Jimmy Kimmel, and vice versa (2 Comments)
The Greene Room
MWC Winners and Losers: Week 10
Calendar »
- 9 Mon
- 10 Tue
- 11 Wed
- 12 Thu
- 13 Fri
-
Jo Dee Messina at the House of Blues
House of Blues | 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
-
The Revival Tour at Beauty Bar
Beauty Bar | 9 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
DJ Tina T at Prive
Prive | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
The Automatic Tour at The Square Apple
The Square Apple
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati








