The Free Speech Coalition submitted written testimony last week to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Sub-Committee on Oversight and Investigations, for its hearing on Sept. 21 on “Deleting Commercial Child Pornography Sites From The Internet: The U.S. Financial Industry’s Efforts To Combat This Problem.”
As trade association of the adult entertainment industry, FSC said it is determined to make it clear to U.S. lawmakers that America’s legitimate adult industry is not connected with the scourge of child sexual abuse and is, in fact, a component of the battle against it.
Thursday’s hearing was the third such examination of the financial underpinnings of the proliferation of images of child exploitation on the Internet held last week. The first two hearings were on Tuesday the 19th, in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, with another inquiry later that day in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Both assemblies focused on the problem of child pornography and how government and industry could work to stop it. Testimony from the CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) Ernie Allen was featured in all three hearings. His comments highlighted the work being done by the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography, a group of major financial institutions and Internet companies that are working with NCMEC to dry up the transmission of payments for this illegal material.
Highlighting the work of the adult industry-funded organization, Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP), FSC’s testimony emphasized our desire to assist law enforcement in pursuing real child pornographers without snaring legal adult material. We stand ready to work with the federal government in halting this illicit traffic and hope our testimony will further clarify our positive role in society.
