II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2050

To establish a panel to investigate illegal gambling on college sports and

to recommend effective countermeasures to combat this serious national

problem.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 9, 2000

Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. BRYAN, Mr. TORRICELLI, and Mr. BAUCUS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish a panel to investigate illegal gambling on college

sports and to recommend effective countermeasures to

combat this serious national problem.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combatting Illegal Col5 lege and University Gambling Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) illegal gambling on college sports is a seri9 ous national problem;
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1 (2) illegal gambling by college students and

2 other underage persons, particularly on sports, is a

3 serious national problem that warrants effective na4 tional countermeasures to combat it;

5 (3) recent scientific reports suggest a very high

6 incidence of illegal gambling among college students,

7 on college sporting events;

8 (4) illegal student bookies are present at every

9 collegiate institution;

10 (5) there is evidence that illegal sports gam11 bling, including that conducted on college and uni12 versity campuses through illegal student bookies, is

13 linked to organized crime and is a major source of

14 revenue for organized crime operations;

15 (6) the FBI estimates that close to

16 $2,500,000,000 is wagered illegally on the National

17 Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Men’s Bas18 ketball Tournament each year;

19 (7) in Nevada, the only State where such sports

20 betting is legal, the 1998 National Collegiate Ath21 letic Association Division I Men’s Basketball Tour22 nament saw approximately $80,000,000 wagered

23 with Nevada’s regulated sports books, or only three

24 percent of that wagered illegally elsewhere;
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1 (8) there are no comprehensive studies available

2 that analyze the prevalence of illegal gambling on

3 college sports;

4 (9) the National Gambling Impact Study Com5 mission (NGISC) (as authorized under Public Law

6 104–169) was expressly limited by its statutory

7 charter to a study of legal gambling but did rec8 ommend that the role of illegal sports gambling be

9 examined in future gambling related research includ10 ing research by agencies of the Department of Jus11 tice;

12 (10) the issue of illegal gambling on college

13 sports is still largely overlooked by college adminis14 trators;

15 (11) there needs to be comprehensive gambling

16 education programs conducted on each campus that

17 target all students as recommended by the NGISC;

18 (12) illegal gambling on college sports will con19 tinue to flourish throughout the United States un20 less a strong effort is made to enforce State and

21 Federal laws prohibiting such activity;

22 (13) in order to combat illegal gambling on col23 lege sports in this country, law enforcement must

24 ensure that compliance with Federal and State laws

25 is a high priority; and
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1 (14) absent meaningful countermeasures, in2 cluding implementation of more effective student

3 awareness and education campaigns, illegal gambling

4 on college sports will continue to be a problem on

5 college and university campuses across the United

6 States.

7 SEC. 3. STUDY OF GAMBLING ON COLLEGE AND UNIVER8 SITY CAMPUSES.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—Not later than 90

10 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney

11 General shall establish a panel, which shall be composed

12 of Federal, State, and local government law enforcement

13 officials, to conduct a study of illegal college sports gam14 bling.

15 (b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The study conducted by

16 the panel established under subsection (a) shall include

17 an analysis of—

18 (1) the scope and prevalence of illegal college

19 sports gambling, including unlawful sports gambling

20 (as defined in section 3702 of title 28, United States

21 Code);

22 (2) the role of organized crime in illegal gam23 bling on college sports;

24 (3) the role of State regulators and the legal

25 sports books in Nevada in assisting law enforcement
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1 to uncover illegal sports gambling and related illegal

2 activities;

3 (4) the enforcement and implementation of the

4 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of

5 1992, including whether it has been adequately en6 forced;

7 (5) the effectiveness of steps taken by institu8 tions of higher education to date, whether individ9 ually or through national organizations, to reduce

10 the problem of illegal gambling on college sports;

11 (6) the factors that influence the attitudes or

12 levels of awareness of administrators, professors,

13 and students, including student athletes, about ille14 gal gambling on college sports;

15 (7) the effectiveness of new countermeasures to

16 reduce illegal gambling on college sports, including

17 related requirements for institutions of higher edu18 cation and persons receiving Federal education

19 funds;

20 (8) potential actions that could be taken by the

21 National Collegiate Athletic Association to address

22 illegal gambling on college and university campuses;

23 and
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1 (9) other matters relevant to the issue of illegal

2 gambling on college sports as determined by the At3 torney General.

4 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

5 Not later than 12 months after the establishment of

6 the panel, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress

7 a report on the study conducted under section 3, which

8 shall include—

9 (1) recommendations for actions colleges, uni10 versities, and the National Collegiate Athletic Asso11 ciation should implement to address the issue of ille12 gal gambling on college sports;

13 (2) recommendations for intensive educational

14 campaigns which the National Collegiate Athletic

15 Association could implement to assist in the effort to

16 prevent illegal gambling on college sports;

17 (3) recommendations for any Federal and State

18 legislative actions to address the issue of illegal gam19 bling on college sports; and

20 (4) recommendations for any administrative or

21 private sector actions to address the issue of illegal

22 gambling on college sports.

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