[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 34 (Thursday, March 23, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H1289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ENFORCEMENT OF OBSCENITY LAWS NEEDED

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, pornographers in this country make more money 
than rock and country music combined. Pornographers bring in more 
dollars in a year than all Broadway productions, all theater shows, all 
ballet, jazz and classical music combined. And this administration is 
doing almost nothing about it.
  The Supreme Court has ruled that obscenity is not protected by the 
First Amendment. Federal law prohibits interstate transportation and 
distribution of obscenity. But since 1992, prosecutions for interstate 
distribution and sale of illegal pornography are down 75 percent. In 
all of 1997, there were only six prosecutions by all 93 U.S. Attorneys.
  The cause and effect between pornography and crime, violence against 
women and children, rape and child abuse, is clearly established. The 
President and the Department of Justice should enforce the law, not 
ignore it.

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