AFF’s General Counsel Paul Cambria and AFF Media Consultant John Pauly have sent two letters, one to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and one to Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, in a formal request to allow members of the adult industry to attend the Jan. 19 Commerce Committee’s hearing on “Internet Pornography.”
During 2005, federal legislators held three separate hearings on the adult entertainment industry without inviting a single representative from the industry to speak or even be present in the room.
AFF made attempts prior to each hearing to be invited, and each time was denied, according to Pauly.
“We’ve sent letters, made phone calls, followed up with emails,” Pauly told XBiz. “We were frozen out.”
All three hearings were chaired by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a vocal critic of the adult industry.
“This is a formal request,” reads Cambria’s letter to Stevens. “The AFF can draw from a pool of attorneys, researchers and adult entertainment industry executives to counter misinformation and unfounded criticism from industry critics.”
Pauly’s letter to Boxer maintains a similar tone.
“All too often decision makers are exposed only to attacks on the increasingly mainstream adult entertainment industry,” Pauly said. “There are two sides to every story, and AFF wants to provide a balance to the hearing.”