Dear Friend,

Military officials refuse to follow federal law by continuing to sell explicit materials such as Penthouse and Playboy on military bases. Congress passed the 1996 Military Honor and Decency Act, banning stores located on military bases from selling “sexually explicit material”.

This past spring, Concerned Women for America (CWA) along with the American Family Association and others, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates urging him to comply with the law. Married life combined with the rigors of military life is difficult enough without adding the easy access of pornography to the strain.
The letter notes:

·        Families and children frequent military exchanges and are exposed to pornography.

·        Addiction to pornography is becoming a significant problem among servicemen.

·        Military law enforcement officials are seeing more service members arrested and/or charged with the sexual abuse of a child. Problems have escalated during the period the Military Honor and Decency Act was not enforced.

The Pentagon's Resale Activities Board of Review evaluated 473 pornographic items being sold in military stores. In a letter dated August 15, a deputy undersecretary of Defense found that Penthouse and Playboy, “based solely on the totality of each magazine’s content, they were not sexually explicit”.

Loading up Penthouse or Playboy with extra pages of ads and articles does not make the pictures less pornographic. The military should not fuel the deterioration of marriages by promoting adulterous fantasies.

ACTION: Contact Michael Dominguez, Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Personnel & Readiness. Michael.dominguez@osd.mil

Tell him to obey the Military Honor and Decency Act and remove pornography from all military exchanges!

Wendy Wright

President

Concerned Women for America