Enough is Enough: Protecting our Children Online

September 1, 2006

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Greetings. We are writing to you on a matter of great importance, one on which we know you agree with us. That matter is the widespread availability of illegal, obscene material and its effect on our culture. So-called "adult" hardcore pornography continues to inflict incalculable damage on children and families. It contributes to the destruction of marriage, the demeaning of both women and men, and the sexual exploitation of children and adults. We are compelled, then, by this ongoing victimization to ask you to expand the Administration's crackdown on this scourge. To discuss this issue further, we respectfully request to meet with you at the earliest opportunity.

We have organized successful efforts in communities all across America to stop the spread of pornography. However, based on many years of experience, we know that it is crucial to have the Federal Government vigorously enforce obscenity laws. We saw what an incredible difference efforts by the Department of Justice made in the enforcement of obscenity laws under your father and President Reagan. Current research shows that the public still strongly desires greater enforcement of these statutes:

*82 percent of American adults surveyed said that federal laws against Internet obscenity should be vigorously enforced (Wirthlin Worldwide, March 2004).

*77 percent of adults polled supported the DOJ's crackdown on obscene material (Harris Interactive, November 2005).

Your help is essential because pornographers and sexual predators are increasingly targeting America's most vulnerable citizens: our children. A recent report revealed 33 percent of youth had unwanted exposure to sexual material online in the past year, and 1 in 7 youth received unwanted sexual solicitations during the same period ("Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later," Internet Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire). If we allow obscenity to go unchecked in our nation, it will only fuel this tragic exploitation.

We urge you to once again speak out publicly against illegal obscenity. A meeting with the nation's anti-pornography leaders would afford an ideal forum to accomplish this goal. We also request that your Administration step up its enforcement of federal obscenity laws by providing FBI field assistance to obscenity prosecutions and furnishing the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force at the DOJ with several additional prosecutors along with greater resources. We applaud Attorney General Gonzales and Brent Ward for their initial efforts though the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, but we recommend that the work of this vital office be expanded.

Thank you for considering the importance of this issue. We value the Administration's accomplishments in the fight against illegal obscenity thus far and trust that we can discuss ways to partner with you on this crucial endeavor to further protect children and families. God bless you, Mr. President.

Most sincerely,

Alan E. Sears
Former Executive Director
Attorney General's Commission on Pornography

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Founder and Chairman
Focus on the Family

Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council

Richard Cizik
Vice President
National Assoc. of Evangelicals

Gary Bauer
President
American Values

Donald E. Wildmon
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Donna M. Hughes
Professor & Carlson Endowed Chair
University of Rhode Island

Phil Burress
President
Citizens for Community Values

Dr. Richard Land
President
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Robert Peters
President
Morality in Media
New York, New York

Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman
Conservative HQ.com

Reverend William Owens
President/Founder
Coalition of African American Pastors

Jan LaRue
Chief Counsel,
Concerned Women for America

Rick Schatz
President and CEO
National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families

Donna Rice Hughes
President
Enough is Enough

Bill Johnson
American Decency Association

Michael J. DePrimo
Senior Litigation Counsel
American Family Association
Center for Law & Policy

Charlie Butts
Religion Editor
USA Radio Network

Susan Liang
Independent Scholar
Honolulu, Hawaii

Pastor Rod Parsley
Founder & President
Center for Moral Clarity

Debbie Stacy
Executive Director
Center for Moral Clarity

Patrick Mangan
Executive Director
Citizens for Community Values of Indiana

Joseph Sergio
President
Citizens for Community Values of Indiana

Matt & Melanie Larson
Guardian of Angels Foundation

Mike Hein
Administrator
Christian Civic League of Maine

Gary Glenn
President
American Family Association
Michigan

Jennifer McLaughlin
Vice President
Be A Child's Hero Foundation & Network

Shaleen Horrocks
Executive Director
Paul & Lisa Program
Westbrook, CT

Joe Glover
President
Family Policy Network, Inc.

Tom Shields
Chairman
Coalition for Marriage and Family

Steven W. Fitschen
President
The National Legal Foundation

Claudia Barlow
Consultant to Medicine on Human Trafficking

Dr. Rukhsana B. Tak-Khan
Ph.D. Law (Research)
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Kathy Kramer
PO Box 409
Larkspur, CO 80118

Adam McManus
Host of "Take A Stand"
AM 630, KSLR Radio
San Antonio, Texas

Laura Christensen
LISWSolution-Focused Services
Santa Fe, NM

John Stemberger
President & General Counsel
Florida Family Policy Council

Peggy S. Birchfield
President of the Religious Freedom Action Coalition

William J. Murray
Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition

Captain Isaiah Allen
Commanding Officer
The Salvation Army - Easton Corps.

Nancy Parker
Milwaukee, WI

Diane Gramley
President
American Family Association of Pennsylvania

Roger Young
Special Agent, FBI retired
Roger Young Consulting
Reno, Nevada

Larry Cirignano
Executive Director
CatholicVote.org

Stephen J Ensley
Executive Director
Cleanwww Inc. aka AFO.net
Niceville FL 32578

Dr. Keith Wiebe
President
American Association of Christian Schools

James L. Lambert
TV talk show host

Carl K. Crowe
President and State Director
American Family Association
New Jersey

Douglas P. Stiegler
Executive Director
Association of Maryland Families

Kent Ostrander
The Family Foundation of Kentucky

Thomas R. Rodgers
Detective Lieutenant (retired)
Indianapolis Police Department

Chuck Hurley
President
Iowa Family Policy Center

TJ Nichols
Nichols-Hybrid Design, Inc.
Naples, Florida

Captain (Dr) Cindy-Lou Drummond
The Salvation Army
Oil City, PA

Robert Regier
Executive Director
South Dakota Family Policy Council

Randall Murphree
Editor, AFA Journal

Gregory Carlin
Director
Irish Anti-Trafficking Coalition

David E. Smith
Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute

D. Bryan Wickens
President
Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana, Inc. ("ROCK")

Michael N. Duff
President
United Families Idaho

Dr. Carl Herbster
President
AdvanceUSA

Keith S. Fimian
Chairman & Founder
U.S. Inspect, LLC

Bill Brooks
President
North Carolina Family Policy Council

Richard Bott. President and
Richard Bott, II, Executive Vice President
Bott Radio Network

C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

Gene Mills
Executive Director
Louisiana Family Forum

Attorney David Gibbs III
Gibbs Law Firm, P.A., Florida

Cathi Herrod
President
The Center for Arizona Policy

Maurine Proctor
President
Family Leader Network

Tim Echols
President
TeenPact

Ron Shuping
Executive VP of Programming
The Inspiration Television Networks

Bobbie Patray
President
Tennessee Eagle Forum

Rev. Duane Motley
Executive Director
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms

Len Deo
New Jersey Family Policy Council

Margaret Purvis
ChairFaces of Children Ministry
Midland, TX

Gayle Christie
Houston, Texas

Norma Jeter
Spring, Texas

Deany Meinke
Houston, Texas

Patrick A. Trueman
Former Chief
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
U.S. Dept. of Justice

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