The American Gaming Association has begun efforts to lobby Congress to pass legislation that would regulate online poker in the United States, according to recent media reports.

The AGA represents the casino industry in the United States, and the AGA’s support of regulation points to the fact that United States gaming interests would like to enter the online poker market. The AGA held a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. The event was headed by AGA CEO Frank Fahrenkopf. Also appearing were Keith Smith, president of Boyd Gaming; Gordon Kanofsky, CEO of Ameristar Casinos(casino poker set); and Virginia McDowell, president of Isle of Capri Casinos.

“The millions of American who are playing poker online deserve to know they are playing safely with law-abiding operators,” Fahrenkopf said during a news conference, according to a story by The Associated Press.

The story went on to say that gaming leaders would be meeting with congressmen and White House officials on the subject of regulation of online poker in the coming days.

The lobbying effort comes less than a month after the U.S. Department of Justice seized the domains of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB.com, and issued indictments for some of their top executives. The DoJ accused those indicted of money laundering and bank fraud.

There is currently a bill in Congress — HR 1174, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act — that is identical to the past legislation that has not passed. A bill that attempted to make a carve out for just online poker chip holders, introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in December, did not make any progress in Congress. However, the AGA may be pushing for a new piece of legislation that differs from both of those bills.