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Before the House vote Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., one of the bill's chief sponsors, argued on the House floor that the legislation could help 'purge the smear on the Congress' left by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"Abramoff lobbied against the bill in 2000 on behalf of an online lottery company.

"However, this year's version included an exception for online lotteries.

"The U.S. Senate would need to pass similar legislation before the bill could become law.

"…The efforts to ban Internet gambling is a blow to millions of Americans who go online to bet on poker, casino games and sporting contests each year, critics say.

"…About 70 million Americans now play poker and about 23 million of those people play online, according to the Poker Players Alliance.

"The group has lobbied heavily against the House bill. The alliance argues the measure would infringe on Americans' personal freedoms by requiring banks and credit card companies to monitor their cardholders' online transactions…"