Last week saw defeat in the US House of Representatives for legislation that would have eliminated certain regulations in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA).

UIGEA made the transfer of funds from financial institutions to gambling websites from US citizens illegal, though money can be wagered by US citizens on fantasy sports, lottery games and horse racing.

Sponsored by Barney Frank (D.-Massachusetts) and Ron Paul (R.-Texas), House Resolution 5767 had called for a moratorium on Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System enforcement of or further implementation of UIGEA.

Unfortunately for those wishing to do business in a lucrative US market, a 32-32 vote – split mostly evenly along party lines, despite Republican Paul’s sponsorship – killed the bill in the very committee Frank heads up: the House Financial Services Committee.

The proceedings of the committee vote are available here. The bit on HR 5767 begins at about the 30:50 mark as Frank takes up the case on behalf of American banks overburdened with “the very impossible job” handed them vis-à-vis enforcement in transactions made illegal by UIGEA.

Along the way, he defends the right of people to be stupid and with proper New England-style sarcasm dismisses the boogeyman who puts online gaming into children’s playrooms. (Beware subpar audio quality.)

Before defeat, Frank remained publicly optimistic about eventually rewriting UIGEA altogether: “It may take one more presidential campaign,” he muses at one point, “but we’ll get there.”