---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 3001"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "3001"
heading: "Congressional findings and policy"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/3001"
units:
  - "Chapter 57 — Interstate Horseracing"
---

# §3001. Congressional findings and policy

- (a) The Congress finds that—
  - (1) the [States](/usc/15/3002.md?p=2) should have the primary responsibility for determining what forms of gambling may legally take place within their borders;
  - (2) the Federal Government should prevent interference by one [State](/usc/15/3002.md?p=2) with the gambling policies of another, and should act to protect identifiable national interests; and
  - (3) in the limited area of interstate off-track wagering on horseraces, there is a need for Federal action to ensure [States](/usc/15/3002.md?p=2) will continue to cooperate with one another in the acceptance of legal interstate wagers.
- (b) It is the policy of the Congress in this chapter to regulate interstate commerce with respect to wagering on horseracing, in order to further the horseracing and legal off-track betting industries in the United States.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 95–515, § 2, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1811.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Pub. L. 95–515, § 9, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1815, provided that: The provisions of this Act [this chapter] shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 25, 1978], and, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, shall apply to any interstate off-track wager accepted on or after such date of enactment. The provisions of this Act [this chapter] shall not apply to any interstate off-track wager which is accepted pursuant to a contract existing on May 1, 1978. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any form of legal non-parimutuel off-track betting existing in a State on May 1, 1978. The provisions of subsection (b) of section 5 of this Act [section 3004(b) of this title] shall not apply to any parimutuel off-track betting system existing on May 1, 1978, in a State which does not conduct parimutuel horseracing on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 25, 1978].”

### Short Title

Pub. L. 95–515, § 1, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1811, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978’.”