H.R. 7955

119 HR 7955 IH: Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-03-17
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 7955  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   March 17, 2026   Mr. Casar  (for himself,  Mr. Amo ,  Ms. Ansari , and  Ms. Tlaib ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary , and in addition to the Committees on  Agriculture , and  Financial Services , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned   A BILL
To prohibit any person from placing, accepting, or facilitating the placement or acceptance of a wager regarding a specified event, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act   or the   BETS OFF Act  .
2.
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Specified event
The term  specified event  means—
(A)
an act of terrorism;
(B)
an assassination;
(C)
a war; or
(D)
any event—
(i)
the primary underlying characteristic of which is not financial, commercial, or economic; and
(ii)
(I)
that is an action taken by any government, unit of government, intergovernmental organization, or government official;
(II)
the outcome of which is under the complete control of any person; or
(III)
the outcome of which is known by any person in advance.
(2)
Wager
The term  wager —
(A)
means the staking or risking by any person of something of value upon the outcome of an event, including the outcome of any portion or aspect thereof, upon an agreement or understanding that the person or another person will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome; and
(B)
does not include insurance for which the insured holds a lawful insurable interest—
(i)
under State law within the meaning of the Act of March 9, 1945 ( 15 U.S.C. 1011 et seq. ), commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act;
(ii)
under foreign law, with respect to—
(I)
risks located outside the United States; or
(II)
the reinsurance of risks covered under clause (i); or
(iii)
under Federal law, including under the—
(I)
Terrorism Insurance Program established under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 ( 15 U.S.C. 6701  note;  Public Law 107–297 );
(II)
National Flood Insurance Program established under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 ( 42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq. ); or
(III)
Federal crop insurance program established under the Federal Crop Insurance Act ( 7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. ).
3.
Prohibited conduct
(a)
Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any person to place, accept, or facilitate the placement or acceptance of a wager regarding a specified event.
(b)
Civil action
The Attorney General may bring a civil action for injunctive relief in an appropriate district court of the United States against any person who violates subsection (a).
4.
Amendments
(a)
Interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises
Section 1952(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting  (including conduct prohibited by section 3(a) of the Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act)  after  gambling .
(b)
Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses
Section 1955(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1)(i), by inserting  section 3(a) of the Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act or  after  is a violation of ; and
(2)
in paragraph (4), by inserting  conduct prohibited by section 3(a) of the Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act,  after   gambling  includes but is not limited to .
(c)
Prohibition on funding of unlawful internet gambling
Section 5362(1) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (D), by striking  and  at the end;
(2)
by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F); and
(3)
by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:
(E)
includes conduct prohibited by section 3(a) of the Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act, without regard to subparagraph (F) of this paragraph; and
 .
(d)
Common provisions applicable to registered entities
Section 5c(c)(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act ( 7 U.S.C. 7a–2(c)(5) ) is amended—
(1)
in clause (C)(i)—
(A)
by striking subclauses (II), (III), and (IV); and
(B)
by redesignating subclauses (V) and (VI) as subclauses (II) and (III); and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(D)
Prohibition relating to specified events
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no agreement, contract, transaction, or swap involving any specified event, as defined in section 2 of the Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act (or any index, measure, value, or data related thereto, or occurrence, extent of an occurrence, or contingency based thereon), may be listed or made available for clearing or trading on or through a registered entity.
 .
5.
Severability
If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected.
6.
Effective date
This Act shall take effect on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.