WASHINGTON — In a letter to Attorney General William Barr, four Republican members of Congress are demanding that the Justice Department enforce existing obscenity laws to crack down on pornography.
The letter, which was also shared with the National Review, was signed by Jim Banks of Indiana, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Vicky Hartzler of Missouri and Brian Babin of Texas. The representatives remind the AG of a promise made by President Trump to go after the adult industry with obscenity laws already on the books.
"In August 2016, then-candidate Donald J. Trump signed the first-ever anti-pornography pledge," the letter said. "This asserted that, if elected, President Trump would enforce federal obscenity laws to stop the explosion of obscene pornography."
The letter chides the Trump administration for "ignoring" that pledge.
The letter cites 15 state legislatures that have declared pornography a public health crisis, while failing to acknowledge the model legislation, created by anti-pornography advocacy groups such as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, that prompted such pronouncements.
The letter also mentions Barr's work when he was AG under George H.W. Bush.
"Fortunately, U.S. obscenity laws exist that, if enforced, can ameliorate this problem, as you well know from your previous term as U.S. Attorney General when you effectively shut down the pornography industry," the representatives wrote.
The representatives produce no evidence the adult industry, a legally protected, multibillion-dollar enterprise, was ever "effectively shut down."
Under the first President Bush, socially conservative groups had pushed the administration into creating the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force to go after porn producers. The task force was subsequently dissolved under President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, with the Obama administration choosing to focus on prosecuting child pornographers instead of the industry as a whole.
The representatives urge Barr to "declare the prosecution of obscene pornography a criminal justice priority."
Read the National Review article and the original letter.
For more XBIZ coverage on the War on Porn, click here.