I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2906 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to specifically include problem 

and pathological gambling in programs of the Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health Services Administration and to establish a national program to address the harmful consequences of problem gambling. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2009 

Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mr. TERRY, Mr. WOLF, and Mr. BERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to specifically include problem and pathological gambling in programs 

of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and to establish a national program to address the harmful consequences of problem gambling. 

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 ‘‘Comprehensive Prob5 lem Gambling Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Problem gambling is a public health dis2 order characterized by increasing preoccupation with 

3 gambling, loss of control, restlessness or irritability 

4 when attempting to stop, and continuation of the 

5 gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, 

6 negative consequences. 

7 (2) Over 6,000,000 adults met criteria for a 

8 gambling problem last year. 

9 (3) The estimated social cost to families and 

10 communities from bankruptcy, divorce, job loss, and 

11 criminal justice costs associated with problem gam12 bling was $6,700,000,000 last year. 

13 (4) Problem gambling is associated with higher 

14 incidence of bankruptcy, domestic abuse, and sui15 cide. 

16 (5) Problem gamblers have high rates of co-oc17 curring substance abuse and mental health dis18 orders. 

19 (6) In response to current budget shortfalls, 

20 many States are considering or have enacted legisla21 tion to expand legal gambling activities with the in22 tent of raising State revenues. 

23 (7) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

24 Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the lead FedVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:05 Jun 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2906.IH H2906

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1 eral agency for substance abuse and mental health 

2 services. 

3 (8) There are no agencies or individuals in the 

4 Federal Government with a formal responsibility for 

5 problem gambling. 

6 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF GAMBLING IN SAMHSA AUTHORI7 TIES. 

8 Section 501(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 290aa(d)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

11 (17); 

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of para13 graph (18) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(19) establish and implement programs for the 

16 identification, prevention, and treatment of problem 

17 and pathological gambling.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec21 retary’’) shall carry out a national campaign to increase 

22 knowledge and raise awareness with respect to problem 

23 gambling issues within the general public, including sup24 porting and augmenting existing national campaigns and 


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1 the production and placement of public service announce2 ments. 

3 (b) VOLUNTARY DONATIONS.—In carrying out sub4 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

5 (1) administer and coordinate the voluntary do6 nation of resources to assist in the implementation 

7 of new programs and the augmentation of existing 

8 national campaigns to provide national strategies for 

9 dissemination of information intended to address 

10 problem gambling from— 

11 (A) the television, radio, motion picture, 

12 cable communications, and print media; 

13 (B) the advertising industry; 

14 (C) the business sector of the United 

15 States; and 

16 (D) professional sports organizations and 

17 associations; and 

18 (2) encourage media outlets throughout the 

19 country to provide information aimed at preventing 

20 problem gambling, including public service an21 nouncements, documentary films, and advertise22 ments. 

23 (c) FOCUS.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Sec24 retary shall target radio and television audiences of, but 

25 not limited to, sporting and gambling events. 


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1 (d) EVALUATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

2 the Secretary shall evaluate and report to the President 

3 and to the Congress on the effectiveness of activities under 

4 this section. 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

6 purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized 

7 to be appropriated $200,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

8 through 2014. 

9 SEC. 5. RESEARCH. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish and 

11 implement a national program of research on problem 

12 gambling. 

13 (b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

14 President shall appoint an advisory commission, including 

15 individuals not currently employed by the Federal Govern16 ment, to coordinate the activities of Federal agencies relat17 ing to research on problem gambling, including the activi18 ties of the National Institutes of Health, the National 

19 Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the 

20 Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the Substance Abuse and 

21 Mental Health Services Administration. 

22 (c) NATIONAL GAMBLING IMPACT STUDY COMMIS23 SION REPORT.—In carrying out this section, the President 

24 shall consider the recommendations that appear in chapter 


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1 8 of the June 18, 1999, report of the National Gambling 

2 Impact Study Commission. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

4 purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized 

5 to be appropriated $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

6 2010 through 2014. 

7 SEC. 6. TREATMENT. 

8 (a) GRANTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

10 grants to States, local, and tribal governments, and 

11 nonprofit agencies to provide comprehensive services 

12 with respect to treatment and prevention of problem 

13 gambling issues and education about problem gam14 bling issues. 

15 (2) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.—A grant may be 

16 made under paragraph (1) only if an application for 

17 the grant is submitted to the Secretary and the ap18 plication is in such form, is made in such manner, 

19 and contains such agreements, assurances, and in20 formation as the Secretary determines to be nec21 essary to carry out this subsection. 

22 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

23 the purpose of carrying out this subsection, there is 

24 authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each 

25 of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 


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1 (b) TREATMENT IMPROVEMENT PROTOCOL.—The 

2 President, acting through the Administrator of the Sub3 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 

4 shall develop a treatment improvement protocol specific to 

5 problem gambling. 

6 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of the Congress that every State should 

8 contribute a percentage of its revenue from gambling to9 wards prevention and treatment of problem gambling and 

10 towards research services and education about problem 

11 gambling. 

Æ 


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