The United States Congress likes to get together for hearings. They like discussing things, lecturing, sharing their opinion and watching themselves on C-SPAN. Right now, the House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing on online gambling. Representative Barney Frank, a member of that committee, wants to legalize and regulate online gambling at a federal level, repealing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the process.

Yesterday, Annie Duke testified before the House committee. Annie Duke is a well-known poker player, having won a World Series of Poker bracelet and earning the nickname of the “Duchess of Poker.” For that reason, it’s not surprising that she is an advocate of online poker in the United States.

Annie Duke told the House Financial Services Committee that Congress should legalize and regulate the online gambling industry. She said that the issue is “personal freedom, the right of individual Americans to do what they want in the privacy of their homes without the intrusion of the government.”

That argument about doing what you want in your own home should carry particular weight with Frank. According to the folks at Gambling Review, Frank has a history of running an illegal gay brothel out of his home. Frank echoed Duke’s statement, saying that “unwise choices are part of freedom.” While some worry that allowing online gambling would lead to illegal gambling by minors, Duke said that it should be the job of parents, not the government, to make sure their children are not participating in dangerous activities.

Next week, the House Financial Services Committee may meet to vote on Frank’s bill to regulate and license online gambling in America. Currently there is no federal ban on online gambling in the United States. The UIGEA tasks financial institutions with blocking transactions from “unlawful” internet gambling, without making online gambling unlawful or defining what types of gambling is unlawful. Some states do ban online gambling, though, and those state laws should still be in effect even if federal regulation is passed.

Tags: America online gambling, Annie Duke, Barney Frank, Gambling Review, House Financial Services Committee, Online Casino, online gambling, online poker, U.S. online gambling, UIGEA, Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, World Series of Poker bracelet