Contact: Natalie Bell, Media Coordinator, Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000 ext. 126

WASHINGTON, May 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pornography continues to pollute our nation, filling the shelves of "adult" stores with raunchy DVDs and videos, and saturating our TVs and the Internet with filth. The U.S. Department of Justice's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force needs to crack down and enforce our federal obscenity laws with vigor.

Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), said "Obscenity invades our public and private lives, a result of law enforcement officials choosing not to vigorously prosecute obscenity offenses. The Supreme Court has ruled that communities can decide what is appropriate, summarized in the famous definition, 'I know pornography when I see it.' Americans are not given the chance in their role as juries to uphold community standards if prosecutors refuse to bring charges. We can see the results of being dismissive of obscenity laws. Now it's time to see what can be accomplished by respecting the law.  Our culture will thrive when boundaries of decency are in place. Children will be allowed to be innocent and women will not be as vulnerable to violence and degradation. What prosecutor would be against that?"

Dr. Janice Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of CWA's Beverly LaHaye Institute, said "Obscenity and sex trafficking go hand-in-hand. We know that titillation only increases cravings and with some people the deviant images drive the viewer to become a predator. If there is demand for children to be used sexually, that demand will be met by ruthless traffickers.  If a pedophile wants to travel to another country to abuse children, the trafficking networks help them find locations and victims.  Many pimps and traffickers use pornography to initiate their victims into their life of sexual slavery.  If we do not enforce obscenity laws stringently, the ripple effect it has on the rest of the culture leads to a tidal wave of degradation and destruction."

Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues at CWA, said "The days of looking the other way are over. It's high time the welfare of families and children takes a greater priority within the Department of Justice than in previous years. The American people have spoken. The pornography plague on our culture can no longer be ignored. Federal obscenity laws are already on the books, they need only be enforced."

The following media advisory is submitted by Concerned Women for America:

WHAT:     
Press Conference Against Illegal Obscenity

DATE:      
Monday, May 19th

TIME:       
9:00 am

WHERE:  
National Press Club
529 14th Street, NW
13th Floor, Murrow Room 

• A Prayer Breakfast will begin the day's events at 8:00 a.m.
• Speakers will join in an Informative Conference from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
• Demonstration at the U.S. Justice Dept. will immediately follow the press conference

U.S. Justice Department headquarters
950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C.

Speakers for the event include:

Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues at CWA, emcee for the event

Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America (CWA)

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of CWA’s Beverly LaHaye Institute

Ted Baehr, President, Christian Film & TV Commission

Larry Cirignano, Founder, CatholicVote.org

Brad Curl, President of Athletes & Business for Kids

Bill Johnson, President, American Decency Association

Rabbi Yehuda Levin, Spokesperson, Rabbinical Alliance of America

Mike McManus, Co-Founder, Marriage Savers

Robert Peters, President, Morality in Media

Maureen Proctor, President, Family Leader Network

Cathy Ruse, Senior Fellow (Legal Studies), Family Research Council

Sarah Seitz, Esq., Liberty Counsel

Arthur Taylor, Past President, CBS, Inc.

Pat Trueman, former Chief, U.S. Justice Department's Child Exploitation & Obscenity Section

Daniel Weiss, Senior Analyst for Media & Sexuality, Focus on the Family
Ralph Yarro, Founder, CP80 Foundation

Please join us as we ask the Department of Justice's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force to fulfill its mission in protecting our families, women and children from obscenity.

Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.