SEC. 2. NO FEDERAL LIABILITY FOR GAMING ACTIVITY 
LAWFUL UNDER STATE LAW. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b) and notwithstanding any other law, a person or gov-
ernmental entity is not subject to civil or criminal liability 
under any provision of Federal law for engaging through 
a gaming facility in gaming activity that is lawful under 
the law of the State in which such person or governmental 
entity engages in such activity. 
(b) 
MINIMUM
CONSUMER
PROTECTIONS.—Sub-
section (a) does not apply to a person or governmental 
entity with respect to gaming activity engaged in by the 
person or governmental entity in a State unless the law 
of the State provides for consumer protections with re-
spect to such activity that include the following: 
(1) LICENSING
OF
GAMING
FACILITIES.—Ap-
propriate licensing or certification mechanisms for 
gaming facilities. 
(2) REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
GAMING 
FACILITIES.—Appropriate mechanisms, including re-
porting requirements, to ensure, to a reasonable de-
gree of certainty, that gaming facilities are operating 
in a fair and transparent manner. 
(3) PROHIBITION OF UNDERAGE GAMING.—Ap-
propriate safeguards to ensure, to a reasonable de-
gree of certainty, that an individual placing a bet or 
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wager is not under the minimum legal age for plac-
ing such a bet or wager established by the State. 
(4) 
PROHIBITED
LOCATIONS.—Appropriate 
safeguards to ensure, to a reasonable degree of cer-
tainty, that an individual placing a bet or wager is 
physically located in a jurisdiction that has not pro-
hibited such bet or wager at the time the bet or 
wager is placed. 
(5) MANDATORY
COLLECTION
OR
REPORTING 
OF CUSTOMER TAXES.—Appropriate mechanisms to 
ensure, to a reasonable degree of certainty, that all 
Federal and State taxes relating to the placement of 
a bet or wager are collected from or reported by the 
person placing such bet or wager, as required by 
law, at the time of any payment of the proceeds of 
such bet or wager. 
(6) MANDATORY
COLLECTION
OR
REPORTING 
OF TAXES ON OPERATOR OF GAMING FACILITY.— 
Appropriate mechanisms to ensure that— 
(A) all Federal and State taxes relating to 
the operation of a gaming facility are collected 
or reported, as required by law; and 
(B) adequate records are maintained to en-
able later audit or verification of such collection 
or reporting. 
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(7) SAFEGUARDS AGAINST FINANCIAL CRIME.— 
Appropriate safeguards to prevent, to a reasonable 
degree of certainty, fraud, money laundering, and fi-
nancing of terrorism. 
(8) 
SAFEGUARDS
AGAINST
COMPULSIVE 
PLAY.—Appropriate safeguards to combat compul-
sive gambling. 
(9) PRIVACY
AND
DATA
SECURITY
SAFE-
GUARDS.—Appropriate safeguards to protect, to a 
reasonable degree of certainty, the privacy and on-
line security of any person placing a bet or wager. 
(10) PREVENTION OF CHEATING.—Appropriate 
safeguards to ensure, to a reasonable degree of cer-
tainty, that a bet or wager is fair and honest, and 
to prevent, to a reasonable degree of certainty, 
cheating (including collusion and the use of a cheat-
ing device). 
(11) INTEGRITY SAFEGUARDS.—In a State in 
which betting or wagering relating to sporting events 
is lawful under the law of the State, appropriate 
safeguards to ensure, to a reasonable degree of cer-
tainty, the integrity of the sporting event, including 
limitations on a bet or wager accepted during the 
sporting event. 
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(12) REDRESS.—Appropriate recourse mecha-
nisms for persons affected by noncompliance with 
the consumer protections required by this subsection 
and any other consumer protections implemented by 
the State with respect to the placement of bets or 
wagers or the operation of gaming facilities. 
(c) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FILING.—A gam-
ing facility that accepts bets or wagers from persons in 
more than one State shall submit to the Commission a 
description of how the gaming facility has complied with 
the law of each such State with respect to each of the 
consumer protections described in subsection (b) that is 
provided for by the law of such State. 
SEC. 3. USE OF CREDIT CARD TO VERIFY AGE PROHIBITED. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to accept a credit 
card payment as a method of age verification for placing 
any bet or wager. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.— 
(1) UNFAIR
OR
DECEPTIVE
ACTS
OR
PRAC-
TICES.—A violation of section 2(c) or 3, or a rule 
prescribed under such section, shall be treated as a 
violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act 
or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of 
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the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(2) POWERS
OF
COMMISSION.—The Commis-
sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by 
the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 
powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 
and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 
(15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 
made a part of this Act. Any person who violates 
section 2(c) or 3, or a rule prescribed under such 
section, shall be subject to the penalties and entitled 
to the privileges and immunities provided in the 
Federal Trade Commission Act. 
(b) BY STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the attorney general of a 
State has reason to believe that any person has vio-
lated or is violating section 2(c) or 3, or a rule pre-
scribed under such section, the attorney general, in 
addition to any authority the attorney general may 
have to bring an action in State court under the 
consumer protection law of the State, may bring a 
civil action in any appropriate United States district 
court or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, 
including a State court, to— 
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(A) enjoin further such violation by the de-
fendant; 
(B) enforce compliance with such section 
or such rule; 
(C) obtain civil penalties; or 
(D) obtain damages, restitution, or other 
compensation on behalf of residents of the 
State. 
(2) NOTICE AND INTERVENTION BY FTC.—The 
attorney general of a State shall provide prior writ-
ten notice of any action under paragraph (1) to the 
Commission and provide the Commission with a 
copy of the complaint in the action, except in any 
case in which such prior notice is not feasible, in 
which case the attorney general shall serve such no-
tice immediately upon instituting such action. The 
Commission shall have the right— 
(A) to intervene in the action; 
(B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all 
matters arising therein; and 
(C) to file petitions for appeal. 
(3) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FED-
ERAL ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Commission has 
instituted a civil action for violation of section 2(c) 
or 3 (including a rule prescribed under such sec-
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tion), no State attorney general may bring an action 
under this subsection during the pendency of that 
action against any defendant named in the com-
plaint of the Commission for any violation of such 
section (including such rule) alleged in the com-
plaint. 
(4) ATTORNEY
GENERAL
DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘‘attorney general’’ means, with 
respect to a State, the attorney general or chief law 
enforcement officer of the State, or another official 
or agency designated by the State to bring civil ac-
tions on behalf of the State or the residents of the 
State. 
(c) RULEMAKING.—The Commission may prescribe 
rules under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 
to implement sections 2(c) and 3. 
(d) PRESERVATION
OF AUTHORITY
OF COMMIS-
SION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed in any way 
to limit or affect the authority of the Commission under 
any other provision of law. 
SEC. 5. GAMBLING ADDICTION PREVENTION AND TREAT-
MENT. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS GAMBLING IN DEPART-
MENT
OF HEALTH
AND HUMAN SERVICES AUTHORI-
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TIES.—Section 501(d) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 290aa(d)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(24); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(26) establish and implement programs for 
prevention and treatment of gambling addiction.’’. 
(b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may es-
tablish a Gambling Addiction Research Advisory 
Committee (in this paragraph referred to as the 
‘‘Committee’’) within the National Institutes of 
Health to coordinate research conducted or sup-
ported by the Department of Health and Human 
Services on gambling addiction. 
(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall in-
clude representatives of the National Institute on 
Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental 
Health, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and 
Alcoholism, the Indian Health Service, the Sub-
stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis-
tration, and the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. 
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(3) ANNUAL
REPORT.—The Committee shall 
prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual re-
port on the research described in paragraph (1). 
(c) SURVEILLANCE OF GAMBLING ADDICTION.—Title 
III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by insert-
ing after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 317U. SURVEILLANCE OF GAMBLING ADDICTION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention and in coordination with other appropriate agen-
cies, shall, as appropriate— 
‘‘(1) enhance and expand infrastructure and ac-
tivities to track the epidemiology of gambling addic-
tion; and 
‘‘(2) incorporate information obtained through 
such infrastructure and activities into an integrated 
surveillance system, which may consist of or include 
a registry, to be known as the National Gambling 
Addiction Surveillance System. 
‘‘(b) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
the National Gambling Addiction Surveillance System, if 
established, is designed in a manner that facilitates fur-
ther research on gambling addiction. 
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‘‘(c) PUBLIC ACCESS.—Subject to subsection (d), the 
Secretary shall ensure that information and analysis in the 
National Gambling Addiction Surveillance System, if es-
tablished, are available, as appropriate, to the public, in-
cluding researchers. 
‘‘(d) PRIVACY.—The Secretary shall ensure that in-
formation and analysis in the National Gambling Addic-
tion Surveillance System, if established, are made avail-
able only to the extent permitted by applicable Federal 
and State law, and in a manner that protects personal 
privacy, to the extent required by applicable Federal and 
State privacy law, at a minimum. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro-
priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 
2022.’’. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AMATEUR
SPORTS
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘amateur sports organization’’ means— 
(A) a person or governmental entity that 
sponsors, organizes, schedules, or conducts a 
competitive game in which one or more amateur 
athletes participate; or 
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(B) a league or association of persons or 
governmental entities described in subpara-
graph (A). 
(2) BET OR WAGER.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘bet or 
wager’’ means the staking or risking by any 
person of something of value, including virtual 
currency and actual or virtual items that can be 
sold or otherwise exchanged for cash at the 
gaming facility or elsewhere, upon the outcome 
of a contest of others, a sporting event, a game 
subject to chance, or a game in which the out-
comes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of 
the participants, upon an agreement or under-
standing that the person or another person will 
receive something of value in the event of a cer-
tain outcome. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—Such term includes the 
following: 
(i) The purchase of a chance or op-
portunity to win a lottery or other prize. 
(ii) Any lottery, sweepstakes, or other 
betting, gambling, or wagering scheme 
based, directly or indirectly (through the 
use of geographical references or other-
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