WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a telling report today that exposes a number of Members of Congress for preaching against adult entertainment publicly while also accepting large political contributions from American corporations that sell and profit from adult entertainment. Exposed Members include several of the Senate’s most vocal opponents of pornography, including Senator Sam Brownback, who recently masterminded a Senate hearing that compared pornography to crack cocaine. Other prominent Members exposed in the report include Senators McCain and Lieberman and House Majority Leader Tom Delay.The report, titled Addicted to Porn: How Members of Congress Benefit from Pornography, was released today at a press conference that was held in Washington D.C. at 11:00 am. The report was also made available on the group’s website, citizensforethics.org.
The report contains four sections. The first explains how many mainstream corporations directly benefit from the sale of pornography, a fact that was exposed previously by author Fred Lane in his book Obscene Profits. This section of the report singles out hotel chains, cable and satellite companies, and AT&T specifically. The second section of the report discusses corporate PAC contributions to political campaigns. The third section lists the Members of Congress who accept contributions from the companies that benefit from pornography. The fourth and final section exposes the anti-porn rhetoric that is often used by these politicians at public speeches.
“Indecency and pornography have become hot button political issues over the past couple of years,” reads the report. “Indeed, many Members of Congress have made “moral values” a platform on which to base political campaigns and consider themselves crusaders intent on protecting Americans from debauchery. As examples of our national moral decay, Members have pointed to the baring of Janet Jackson’s breast during the 2003 Super Bowl half-time show, the Howard Stern radio show, and even the airing of “Saving Private Ryan.”
“Yet while denouncing the decline in public morality, many of those same Members accept money from corporations that derive substantial profits from pornography. Although they do not advertise it, companies as diverse as Comcast and Marriott International make enormous amounts of money by selling pornography. Ironically, some of this money ends up in the war chests of pornography’s most outspoken Congressional critics.”
“In the following report, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) reveals that some of the Members of Congress who publicly rail against the evils of pornography are only too happy to accept political contributions from those who derive income from the sale of pornography. These Members allege support for legislation penalizing obscenity one moment and fill their campaign coffers with pornography profits the next. It is this rank hypocrisy that this report exposes.”
Among the most surprising Members listed in the report are Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) who has accepted $17,000 since 2002, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) at $16,200, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) at $46,000, Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) at $24,000, and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) at $56,500. Other Members include Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT), Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Mike Oxley (R-OH), Rep. Charles Pickering (R-MS), Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM).
Having shown that these Members have taken money from American corporations that profit from adult entertainment, CREW’s report then includes a number of quotes from the exposed Members that highlight their public rhetoric on pornography.
According to the report, Rep. Tom Delay in 1999 referred to Hustler owner Larry Flynt as a “pro-Clinton tool” and said he was “fighting back against this porn and smut peddler.” He has called porn a “destructive force in society” and has close ties to anti-porn group Concerned Women of America.
Senator Brownback has said recently that porn is “the crack cocaine of sexual addiction” and that “its pervasiveness affects our families.” When it was announced that the Justice Department would appeal Judge Lancaster’s decision in the Extreme Associates obscenity case, Sen. Brownback stated, “[t]he Justice Department’s decision indicates a renewed effort to go against purveyors of pornography, whose products are so damaging to our culture, our families, and our nation.”
Senator Lieberman, who has complained that there are too many porn stars on MTV, has been putting pressure on television programmers for years. He has argued that there is “too much sex, too much incivility in entertainment, which makes it very difficult for parents, who are working so hard to give their kids values and discipline.” Sen. Lieberman has also given out “Silver Sewer Awards” for immoral videos.
Senator McCain, while pushing for filtering software in schools, was quoted as saying, “to get rid of smut and the peddlers of smut, you have to energize communities.” He also ran television ads in 2000 promoting his anti-pornography record.
“There are Members of both the House and Senate who see no conflict in accepting significant political campaign contributions from corporations and executives who have profited by selling pornography,” concludes the report. “Self-righteous proclamations of morality not withstanding, these Members are apparently blind to the vice of greed.”
Speaking to YNOT yesterday, CREW Deputy Director Naomi Seligman confirmed that the report is not meant to be a comment on pornography.
“It’s definitely, definitely not an attack on pornography,” said Seligman. “We have no stance on adult entertainment. It is the hypocrisy of Members of Congress that are stridently anti-porn while they are lining their pockets with [donations from] corporations that are making money off of pornography.”
According to CREW’s website, “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington targets government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests. We will help Americans use litigation to shine a light on those who betray the public trust.”
More information about CREW and its mission and a full copy of its report can be found at www.citizensforethics.org.
