[SamG]

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Friday has been quite a roller coaster for all of us following the internet gambling legislation/language.

Senate Majority Leader Frist and House Speaker Hastert continue to attempt to attach extraneous matters to bills moving through both chambers.

It appears for the moment that the only viable vehicle for this is the legislation dealing with port security. The remainder of the bills that will be considered before breaking for the elections have been finalized or passed (DoD Approps, DoD Authorization, DHS Approps, etc.)

As of 4:45pm est, it appears as if the Senators from Louisiana are attempting to hold up all legislation until they get a vote or deal on their offshore drilling legislation.

What can you do at this point? Please feel free to continue to call the chief authors of the port security legislation and hope they can be convinced to not add extraneous matters to this important bill. In addition, you should call your own Senators and Representative to reinforce this message.

Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) (202) 224-3004
Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) (202) 224-3934
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) (202) 224-2523
Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) (202) 224-4041
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) 202-225-7896
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) 202-225-5876

Senate Homeland Security Committee
Majority: 202-224-4751
Minority: 202-224-2627
Senate Commerce Committee
Majority: 202-224-5115
Minority: 202-224-0411
House Homeland Security Committee
Majority: (202) 226-8417
Minority: (202) 226-2616

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