The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) was a 1999 bill in the US Senate to ban Internet gambling defeated, in large part, by the lobbying efforts of Jack Abramoff. ^[1] The bill was supported by Christian conservative groups such as Focus on the Family, Moral Majority, and the Christian Coalition. The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... Lobbyist Jack Abramoff was featured on the cover of TIME magazine, the week of January 9, 2006, after his guilty plea. ... Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF), founded in 1977, is a evangelical Christian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. ... The term Moral Majority signifies the concept that there are often informal subgroups within many larger nations which pursues a strict moral agenda, usually based upon a deep belief in a religion, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism,which is embedded to some extent within the national culture. ... This article is about the organization presently operating in the United States. ...

In 1999, eLottery, inc., hired lobbyist Jack Abramoff to represent their effort to block the bill. ELottery, an Internet-based firm, intended to sell state lottery tickets online, and this business venture was threatened by the IGPA. Abramoff recruited Ralph Reed, his College Republicans cohort, and Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition to oppose the legislation. Although Reed was a former Director of the Christian Coalition which now supported the bill, Abramoff suggested a strategy for opposing the bill on the basis of exceptions in the bill for horse racing and jai-alai. Reed and Sheldon later claimed that they did not know that they were effectively doing this work on behalf of a gambling corporation. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff was featured on the cover of TIME magazine, the week of January 9, 2006, after his guilty plea. ... Ralph Reed may refer to: Ralph E. Reed, Jr. ... The Traditional Values Coalition is a Christian Right organization that claims to represent 43,000 conservative Christian churches throughout the United States of America. ... Jai-Alai (prounced Hi Ah-Lie) means Merry Festival in the Basque language. ...

In June 2000, Abramoff directed his client, eLottery, to direct $25,000 in payments to Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition, and also checks totalling $160,000 to Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. Abramoff then directed Norquist to receive his checks and write another check for $150,000 to Faith and Family Alliance, a Delaware-based political advocacy group started by Reed. The check was received by Robin Vanderwall, then Director of Faith and Family Alliance, who claimed Reed called him and directed him to write a check for an equal amount to Century Strategies, Reed's political consultancy. "I was running a shell", Vanderwall later claimed. "I regret having had anything to do with it." ^[2] Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is the Republican president of the noted anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform, is a well-connected conservative activist with close ties to business and the media. ... Americans for Tax Reform is an interest group seeking to reduce the overall level of taxation in the United States, at the federal, state and local level. ...

Abramoff was working closely with Tony Rudy, then Majority Whip Tom DeLay's Chief of Staff. In numerous emails, Rudy delivered inside information on the status of discussions of IGPA within the House Republican Caucus, and suggested strategies to defeat it. DeLay was normally a staunch opponent of gambling, but had not taken a position on the bill. In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ... Thomas Dale DeLay (born April 8, 1947 in Laredo, Texas) is an American politician from Sugar Land, Texas and a prominent Republican. ...

Reverend Sheldon worked publicly to oppose the bill, holding numerous press conferences. On July 13, 2000, Sheldon met privately with DeLay. DeLay later announced his opposition to the bill. July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

While the bill was under consideration in the House, a letter began circulating among congressman opposing the legislation, signed by Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The letter caused confusion amongst the Republican Caucus, but was later shown to be a forgery. The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... John Ellis Jeb Bush (born February 11, 1953), a Republican, is the forty-third and current Governor of Florida. ...

Abramoff's firm had hired Shandwick Worldwide, based in Tampa, Florida to lobby Jeb Bush and other leaders for letters showing opposition to IGPA. Months later, a Florida man, Matthew Blair, told authorities in a plea bargain agreement that he was hired by Shandwick to obtain the letter, but created a forgery when he failed to get a real one. Shandwick denied any complicity in the forgery.

Delay voted against IGPA, and used his powers as Majority Whip to place the bill on the suspension calendar, a House procedural manuever which bans amendments and limits debate. The bill's sponsor, Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) agreed, as he expected the bill to pass. Robert Goodlatte is a Republican U.S. Representative from Virginia. ...

The bill failed to meet the two-thirds majority required by the suspension calendar, and was rejected on July 18. July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ...

The bill's original supporters, such as James Dobson's Focus on the Family, immediately demanded that the House leadership revive the bill. Abramoff realized that he would not be able to muster support to reject the bill in an ordinary majority vote. Abramoff used Sheldon to target 10 Republican House members in vulnerable districts, using Sheldon to carry out a media campaign and Reed to carry out a direct-mail campaign accusing the members of being 'soft on gambling' if they supported the bill. In a fax to eLottery on August 18, Abramoff wrote, "please get me a check as soon as possible for $150,000 made payable to American Marketing Inc. This is the company Ralph [Reed] is using." James Dobson, Ph. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Abramoff also directed eLottery to write a check for $25,000 to Toward Tradition, a Seattle, Washington-based foundation formerly chaired by Abramoff, and then chaired by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Toward Tradition later employed Tony Rudy's wife, Lisa Rudy for work allegedly related to an Interfaith conference to be held in September 2000. Lapin claimed that Lisa Rudy's company was paid over $25,000 for "ground work" related to the conference. Daniel Lapin is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, and the president and founder of Toward Tradition, a group that promotes stronger ties and friendship between traditional conservative Jews and Christians. ...

Due to the campaigns manufactured by Reed and Sheldon, the targeted members reported to DeLay's office that they were being pressured by constituents to vote against the bill. Tony Rudy used his position as Chief of Staff to exaggerate these concerns in reports to Tom DeLay. DeLay eventually convinced other members of the House Republican leadership that passing the bill could cost the Republican caucus 4 seats, at which point the other leaders agreed not to put the bill to a vote in that session of Congress.