1. The bill has cleared all the hurdles before it and will soon become law. 2. Although similar bills have cleared the Senate in the past, they always bogged down in a House committee. 3. Both the Senate and House bills have cleared judiciary committees and could be taken up by Congress before it recesses this month. 4. A companion bill would clear the way for one owner to operate more than three casinos, now the legal limit. 5. But that issue might be up for a fight once the defense bills clear both chambers, and the joint committees try to reconcile the versions. 6. But the ease with which the bill cleared the committee on Wednesday without substantive change belied the extent of the opposition and the many obstacles that lie ahead. 7. By House rules, all three bills must clear the full House by Wednesday. 8. Even if the bill clears Congress and the White House, interest groups will try to find new loopholes, Magleby predicted. 9. Groups that commemorate Confederate history have demonstrated at the Capitol daily since the bill cleared the House, targeting mainly rural white Democrats and Republicans. 10. If the bill clears the Senate, it faces stiff opposition in the House, which also could make substantial changes. |