The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 (or SAFE Port Act, Pub. L. 109-347[1]) is an Act of Congress in the United States that covers security of ports and online gambling.
Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. This title (found at 31 U.S.C. §§ 5361–5367) prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an Internet gambling site, with the notable exceptions of online lotteries and horse/harness racing.
Legislative history
The Act was passed at midnight the day Congress adjourned before the 2006 elections. Though a bill with the gambling wording was previously debated and passed by the House of Representatives[2][3] , prior to it being added to the SAFE Port Act, the gambling provisions had not been debated by any United States Senate committee, nor was the combined SAFE Port Act wording debated in the House or Senate.[4] However, it was added in Conference Report 109-711 (submitted at 9:29pm on September 292006), which was passed by the House by a vote of 409-2 and by the Senate by unanimous consent on September 302006. Due to H. Res. 1064, the reading of this conference report was waived.
The Act became law when it was signed by President Bush on October 13, 2006.
Among the most prominent Congressional supporters of the Act were Jim Leach, a former chairman of the House Banking Committee and Rep. Robert Goodlatte [R-VA], who co-authored H.R. 4411 (the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act). Bill Frist, majority leader of the Senate, and Jon Kyl are both credited with expediting the UIGEA's passage through the Senate. Though the SAFE Port Act's provisions related to Internet gambling were drawn exclusively from H.R. 4411, significant portions were removed, including text relating to the Federal Wire Act.[5]
Goodlatte and Kyl were reelected in 2006, while Leach was defeated, and majority leader Frist did not seek reelection.
A prior version of the gambling part of the bill passed the House in 1999 but failed in the Senate due largely to the influence of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Responses from online gambling sites
All online gambling sites listed on the London Stock Exchange or similar markets have stopped taking United States players due to the passage of the Act, while most non-public companies have announced an intention to continue taking US customers.