WASHINGTON — The Senate Commerce Committee passed a bill Thursday that would ban gambling on Olympic, college and high school sports. It now goes to the full Senate.
The bill by Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., also directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to research the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes, and recommend better methods to detect their use.
McCain called it an "important bill to restore integrity in amateur sports."
Senators, in an unexpected twist when similar bills were first introduced in February, added the Olympics to legislation originally intended to ban betting only on college and high school sports.
At the time, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., referring to the Salt Lake City Olympics scandal, said, "There have been enough stories about corruption in connection with bidding on venues for Olympic Games . . . . We do not need a scandal having to do with gamblers seeking to influence the outcome of Olympic events."
After passage Thursday, McCain said, "Legalized gambling on kids is wrong. They should not be reduced to a point spread and a spectacle for wagering.
"By closing the Las Vegas loophole and banning college sports gambling completely, we will end a practice that has exposed college athletes to unwarranted pressure, bribery and corruption."
The bill comes after the National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended last year that getting on college sports be banned. It is already illegal everywhere except Nevada.
The committee rejected an amendment by Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., that would have created a national minimum gambling age of 21.
It also refused to accept an amendment by Sen. John Breaux, D-La., that would have legalized office pools such as those commonly used to bet on winners of the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament.