The NCAA scored a significant victory in its fight against legalized betting on college sports April 13 when the Senate Commerce Committee adopted the Amateur Sports Integrity Act (S. 2340) by a vote of 18 to 2.

The vote follows a March 29 hearing in which Senate Commerce Committee Chair Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, proclaimed the federal bill to be a service to all student-athletes throughout the country. The action also sets the stage for S. 2340 to go to the Senate floor either as a free-standing bill or as an amendment to another bill. The bill would remove from the current federal law the exemption that allows Nevada to continue to allow betting on high-school, college and Olympic sporting events. A similar bill in the House sponsored by Reps. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Tim Roemer, D-Indiana, has been referred to the Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, sponsored the Senate legislation along with McCain.

"This legislation will send a clear message to our communities, and more important to our kids, that gambling on student-athletes is wrong and threatens the integrity of college athletics," Brownback said. "Our young athletes deserve legal protection from the seedy influences of gambling, and fans deserve to know that athletics competitions are honest and fair."

The two dissenting votes in the Senate Commerce Committee action came from Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nevada, and Sen. John Breaux, D-Louisiana.

Nine amendments were offered during the Senate Commerce Committee debate, but only two were accepted. One of those would require colleges and universities to report statistics on illegal gambling, including gambling over the Internet, as part of the Campus Crime Act reporting that is already required, and to develop and make available to students a campus policy regarding illegal gambling.

The other accepted amendment would make it illegal for an amateur sports organization, or corporate partner of such organization, to sponsor a sweepstakes or contest that includes prizes directly or indirectly to such a covered game or performance.

Another amendment regarding office pools was withdrawn under the condition that it would be worked out between Breaux and McCain. The amendment currently states: "The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to activity otherwise described in that subsection if all the monies paid by the participants, as an entry fee or otherwise, are paid out to winning participants or contributed to a charitable organization."

Several senators voiced their concern over the definition of "office pool" and potential problems that could arise if the terminology was not further clarified. The NCAA voiced opposition to the amendment but strongly recommends a de minimis dollar limit if the committee goes forward.

Of the six amendments that were rejected, only one received enough votes to appear to hold any future viability. The amendment, which would have required all amateur sports organizations to withhold 10 percent of their gross revenues to support anti-gambling activities, was defeated by a vote of 15 to 5. The amendment would have applied to all amateur sports groups, including the United States Olympic Committee, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the National Federation of State High School Associations, Boys' and Girls' Clubs, and national governing bodies of various sports.

In addition to the anti-gambling measures of the proposed legislation, the first title of the bill addresses performance-drug use by athletes. It authorizes $4 million in funding for research mostly on substances banned by the International Olympic Committee, USOC, NCAA, National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.

S. 2340 is part of a larger NCAA legislative effort to address sports gambling. The NCAA has been a strong supporter of legislation in Congress to prohibit Internet gambling, and in November 1999, the Senate unanimously adopted the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999, S. 692. On April 6, 2000, a similar bill, H. 3125, was reported favorably out of the House Judiciary Committee. H. 3125 is now awaiting a vote by the full House.

Doris Dixon, NCAA director of federal relations, said the NCAA hopes that the House will quickly adopt H. 3125 and that a conference agreement between the House and Senate can be forged before the 106th Congress adjourns in September.