By Kevin Felix | May 26, 2008

Congressmen Ron Paul (R-TX) and Barney Frank (D-MA) must be feeling proud: two more US representatives have given their support to the HR 5767 bill that aims to block implementation of the infamous UIGEA, bringing the total of supporters up to 19.

Paul and Frank introduced the HR 5767 on April 10 of this year, and support has grown steadily since. The bill is backed by a hearing led by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology showing how impractical and ill-defined the UIGEA bill is. During this hearing it was made clear by the American banking sector and several government officials that the UIGEA is ambiguous, difficult –if not downright impossible – to apply, and that it places an unreasonable amount of responsibility and work on the financial system.

To make things brighter for Frank and Paul, the implementation rules for UIGEA are already well past their deadline (it is now 18 months since the legislation was passed and there are still no clear implementation rules;) and federal drafting officials have admitted that the task does not look easy.

After the recent addition of Congressmen Steven R. Rothman(New Jersey) and Steve Cohen (Tennessee) the full list of supporters to date reads like this:

Gary Ackerman (New York)
Shelley Berkley (Nevada)
William Lacy Clay (Missouri)
Bob Filner (California)
Luis Gutierrez (Illinois)
Michael Honda (California)
Peter King (New York)
James McGovern (Massachussetts)
James Moran Virginia)
Robert Wexler (Florida)
Russ Carnahan (Missouri)
Michael Capuano (Massachusetts)
EdPerlmutter (Colorado)
Charles Gonzalez (Texas)
Joe Baca (California)
Steven R. Rothman (New Jersey)
Steve Cohen (Tennessee)

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